When eighteen-year-old Mary Elias falls in love with Isaac Kashogi, she decides the only way to have a future with him is for them to flee Lebanon together. Her family belongs to the powerful Maronite Christian sect, while Isaac's is a family of Sunni Muslims. Tensions have been building up between these communities, to the point that Lebanon is on the brink of a civil war.
Tragedy strikes when Mary's father has his third heart attack and dies upon receiving the news that his daughter has been arrested by Syrian immigration officials at the border the night of her escape with Isaac. Mary's guilt makes her a prisoner of her own conscience, leading her to abandon Isaac and go with her mother and grandmother to the United States-her father's wish before his demise.
As Mary builds a new life in America, trying to leave her ghosts behind her, Isaac's enduring love for Mary is what sustains him through the horrors of the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War. He intends to do whatever it takes to find Mary and build a life with her. But can he succeed in the face of such tremendous obstacles?
A powerful story of tragedy and romance, The Prisoner of Conscience delivers an important message to the world about reconciliation and tolerance.
About the Author: Jamiu Abiola speaks ten languages, having learned Arabic at the age of nine and French at fourteen, and going on to learn Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese, in addition to three African languages and the English he grew up speaking. He studied French, Arabic, and political science at New York University and learned many of the other languages on his own, using the Living Language learning series. He wrote this book in English and Arabic.
In his historical romance novel The Prisoner of Conscience, learning to speak English well is the key to opening up the lead characters' futures, when the heroine migrates to the United States while the man who loves her enrolls in the English Institute in Lebanon, planning to join her one day. The novel explores several important themes, including the complications for Christian-Muslim couples in the Arab world, the history of the Lebanese Civil War, and the need for reconciliation and religious coexistence.
