Like many other “diasporan Armenians”, I was born and had to live away from my homeland. In my case, I had the bad luck of not having any communities close-by to educate me about my ancestral roots. So, I resorted to books to further educate myself about Armenian history and culture. And when we talk about Armenian history, one unfortunate event stands out, and that is the Armenian Genocide.
There is no denying that the Armenian Genocide took place. We grieve deeply when we read about the systematic mass murder and deportation of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1923. Away from the details of those dark days and events, we have compiled a list of extraordinary books that relate or revolve around Armenian people trying to survive during the Armenian Genocide or trying to build their new Armenia away from their homeland.
Forgotten Fire By Adam Bagdasarian
This book follows the life of Vahan Kenderian through the Armenian Genocide between the years of 1915 and 1923. It is one that gives you shivers and shakes you to your core.
Forgotten Fire brings great enthusiasm to Armenians and non-Armenians alike, because the story revolves around how a human faces adversity and becoming something more because of it.
My Name is Aram By William Saroyan
William Saroyan is the famous author of the below quote:
“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.”
William Saroyan
This is a set of short stories that talk about immigrant life for Aram: a poor Armenian-American kid living in Fresno, California. Saroyan avoids mention of the Genocide in his stories. Instead, he focuses on issues of socioeconomic class, family influence, assimilation, and the dilution of ethnic culture. A gem of a book, and a must-read!
The Road from Home By David Kherdian
The author of this book recreates his mothers voice who lived through the Armenian Genocide. This is a true story of Courage, Survival, and Hope. Like many other survivors, she had every reason to give up. Instead, she preserved, she fought, and in the end she was triumphant of her jagatakeer (fate- what’s written on your forehead).
Listen to the digital audio-book here and you wont regret it.
The Sandcastle Girls By Chris Bohjalian
A personal novel up-to-date, following the life of Elizabeth Endicott amid the Armenian Genocide. This historical love story uncovers a lot of the Armenian people’s wounds of love, loss, and generations of buried secrets.
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh By Franz Wefel
This is a story about a resistance led by Gabriel Bagradian to resist death at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide. He lead 5,000 Armenian villages to the top of Musa Dagh, “the Mountain of Moses.”
That concludes our list of Books about Armenian Genocide. Let us know below if you know of any other books in the same mold that you would recommend others to read.
Although I am not a huge fan of books, during this lockdown I have started reading books and novels. I’ll will these books in the read-to-list.
The topic of genocide and how anyone could ever orchestrate something like this is very intriguing and beyond me. Will check some of the books out for sure.
I have always been fascinated by books of this time period, trying to understand what it must have felt like that metal toll, somehow I feel like there maybe some hidden parallel to life right now.
Amazing books. My husband always had an interest to learn more and I’ll be sharing with him too.