Exile of the Heart by Rasheed Abou-Elsamh

A raw account of the author’s long journey to find a place to truly be himself, Exile of the Heart: A Memoir Across Three Continents by Rasheed Abou-Elsamh is a vulnerably written and engrossing memoir.

Born to a Saudi father and an American mother, the battle between conflicting values and ideas was an unavoidable part of his identity, but one that he channeled into a free-ranging interest in the wider world. As Rasheed comes to embrace his homosexuality and recognizes the danger of that identity in Jeddah, he dreams of another life, somewhere his desires aren’t considered a crime. Moving backward and forward in time and space, from his youth in the capital of Brazil and Switzerland to his journalistic work in the stifling regime of Saudi Arabia and the liberated welcome of the Philippines, this is a powerful story of sacrifice and seeking.

Every step of this globe-spanning memoir is marked by the insightful eye of a passionate journalist, as Abou-Elsamh reports on cross-cultural nuances and personal revelations with the same unflinching honesty, uncovering myriad experiences of bigotry, abuse, and ostracization, the disappearance and death of his sister, as well as profound turning points on his unpredictable path. The fight for LGBTQ+ rights and dignity continues in many parts of the world, and Abou-Elsamh’s story is a stark but supportive reminder that oppression can feel relentless, but striving for a full and unashamed life is always worth the struggle.

While there are scattered linguistic issues in the prose, the heart of this memoir is a timely mix of empathy, curiosity, and exploration, resulting in an absorbing and encouraging read.