Heiress of the Keys

Set in Syria in the period from the mid-20th century until the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, Heiress of the Keys charts the fortunes of members of a Syrian family who share a house but live separate lives. Radia, the mother and heroine of the novel, is mired in her stifling reality in which her unambitious but hardworking husband, Afif, fails to provide the lifestyle to which she aspires. While she succeeds in building the glamorous life she dreams of without him, tragic events unfold. Abandoned by her influential lover, overwhelmed by the death of her son, left by her daughter and stolen from by her grandson, she is eventually left entirely alone when Afif ends his own life. Throughout the book, Hassan conveys the psychological tension that Radia experiences, presenting vivid characters who embody the struggle between ambition and submission. The novel concludes with two fundamental questions: Could Radia have taken another path? And is the choice between acceptance and emancipation always an inevitable one?