Book Review:
Book: Welcome to Nowhere
Author: Elizabeth Laird
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Book can truly transform your surroundings and take you to any reality on Earth. Books can immerse you into the tales set in the past or those set in the future, books can do it all. Books like Harry Potter can transform your pen to a wand while classics like the 20,000 Leagues of the Sea can take you on underwater adventures far from the bustling human civilizations. Books can take you to any corner of the world from the comfort of your home.
But there are some books that spread awareness of the troubles others face. These hardships are sometimes things that we can only dream of. Stories of war, destruction and refugee camps are such devastating instances that show the atrocities in other parts of the world. And one such book is ‘Welcome to Nowhere’ by Elizabeth Laird. This book shares a profound message which is why I thought of reviewing this book while emphasising on its heartfelt message.
What is Nowhere? To you, it might be many places. But amidst a conflict, Nowhere is where one goes when they cannot go home. A place where everyone is a stranger. A place where the only thing you can salvage is tears and memories.
Home is much more than a four-letter word. Home is a Haven Of Memories Everyday. And to lose home is one of the most important things one could lose.
In this book, we explore the journey of Omar in Syria. What begins as family drama and usual chatter turns into chaos as Syria spirals into devastation. Government offenses, teenage movements and protests led to a civil war that lasted over a decade and ended just recently in 2024.
Omar and his family must cope with moving and losing everything they ever had. But amidst the noise of artillery and shelling, Omar’s crippled yet resilient and proactive, older brother Musa asks for Omar’s help. Can Omar and his family get themselves far from the war while ensuring their needs are tended to. Well, all of these details are in the book. And to learn more about how their hardships end, please do read this marvellous and profound book.
Whether it was the vivid imagery, emotional connect or relevance to the modern world, this book covered all the bases. It was a story of human destruction inflicted upon themselves. While this book does not transcend political ideologies, it still tells us about the loss of life and property on both frontlines, regardless of the right or the wrong side.
This book was awarded the UKLA Book Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal too for its deep connect and message.
This book has a profound meaning and I feel it will surely connect with many more people out there. While I would probably rate this book a 4.5/5, I would surely recommend it and even applaud its inclusion of various elements that help convey the message and the story.
Did You Know?: Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, by various war monitors, range between 580,000 as of May 2021, and approximately 656,493 as of March 2025.
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Credits for this Book Review
Inside Image Credits:
1. https://www.amazon.ae/Welcome-Nowhere-Elizabeth-Laird/dp/1035034735
2. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/syrian-war-rumbling-into-10th-year-still-has-global-impact
3. https://ukla.org/ukla-book-awards-2025-shortlist/
Do read https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229 to learn more about this conflict that killed over half a million Syrians.
To read more of Elizabeth Laird’s work, visit https://www.elizabethlaird.co.uk/.
Do follow for https://ethansliteraryhaven.com/ more such writings.
