Khalil Sweileh's novel The Weight of Regrets illuminates the tragedy experienced by the Syrian people in the last years of the war, which means nothing but pain to every person from Syria. Sweileh takes the reader on a foray through battered Damascus. He traces memories and depicts the mental conflicts that result from the destruction of place and society.
The focus is on a person who knows about missed opportunities and who tries to tame his demons. The protagonist directs his words to the old streets of Damascus while following three women on the edge of life: a poet, a former political prisoner and a visual artist. The novel gradually develops into a biography of these personalities, revealing the living reality in all its social aspects - the effects of the war on different characters become apparent. At the same time, it is a romance in the shadow of destruction, amidst the daily hell, the news of death and the unfinished business of hate, where carefree relationships cannot thrive and love is doomed to fail.

Translated from Arabic by Suleman Taufiq