Jamal Saeed’s My Road from Damascus uses a haunting poetic lyricism to probe the depths of brutality committed by a repressive regime. Moving back and forth between his present-day life in Canada and his life in Syria, from his first childhood crushes to the 12 years he spent as a political prisoner, Saeed offers us a story about the strength of humanity. At times bracing and darkly comic, this memoir examines the human psyche under extreme conditions of torture and finds poetry, hope, love, and freedom. Saeed’s gift for storytelling and his deeply moving prose allows the reader to follow him wherever he goes.