Financial abuse can also involve sabotaging a partner's career or job prospects. The abuser may pressure their partner to quit their job, refuse to let them work, or even sabotage job interviews and opportunities. This can leave the victim feeling powerless and dependent on their abuser.

As love is as intense an emotion as one gets, it occasionally leads us to make poor choices – choices that are hurtful to the ones we love. Somewhere towards the end I remember the author mentioning the story as a mosaic, and I think that's the perfect way to describe this novel. I also think it's the ideal way to show readers an image of life in an Arab country: each piece is a little fragment of the whole, on its own may not make much sense, but its still beautiful, and will be laid down, and little by little the image will build up in your head, until you see the whole picture. The novel develops through countless doomed affairs and periods of suppression, both individual and collective. In the 'Book Of Laughter', there are beautiful anecdotes about Damascene childhood; in the 'Book Of Hell', a nightmarish portrayal of life in Syria's secret prisons. It involves an extraordinary amount of sex, but this is not the kind of gratuitous or perfunctory copulation prevalent in so many philosophical modern novels - there are no 'Bad Sex Awards' here: the sex in this book is straight-forward and stallion-esque, which only the most tiresome prude would deny is not entirely in keeping with Schami's exploration of passion's extremes: the price for such ecstasy is often certain death.But Detective Barudi is not content to let this mystery disappear. Alone, he begins to unravel a clan war that has dominated the lives of three generations.

As the book starts all the couples; Izzy and James, Harriet and Wills and Stella and Jonny are all settled in life. Caroline, James' sister is single and feels on the edge of the group due to her status. The story unfolds and we see that none of the couples are quite as secure as first impressions suggested and secrets and lies test their relationships. Told in chapters covering the key times when the group are bought together such as New Year's Eve the reader is left with gaps, this device moves the story along nicely without becoming bogged down with the minutiae of daily life. Besides, I learned quite much about the history of this country and I believe Rafik Schami is a rather unbiased narrator - of course, most of his main characters are cristian Arabs, but there are Muslims and Jews as well and for me he did a good job in giving a voice to all the different parts of this complex society rather favouring a humanistic approach towards life. Especially women's lot is represented in a way that makes me admire his insight into the female point of view. Schami shows the beauty and the colours of Syria while at the same time pointing out the weaknesses of a patriarcal society in which tolerance and freedom of thought are not guaranteed. It's obvious that Schami's own biography has influenced this novel a lot and that parts of Farid's life is based on Schami's own experiences - like his main character, Schami had to leave Syria for political reasons and started a new life in Germany, writing this extraordinarily beautiful novel in a language not his native one which is quite a miracle to me. Have I learned interesting facts of history? No! I have been told in a few short sentences about the conniving behavior and bribery of those in power, but there is no continuity to the historical facts. There is little substance to show me how the people were affected by life under these leaders. They merely appear and disappear. It is important to note that financial abuse is a form of domestic violence and can have serious consequences for both the victim and the abuser. Victims of financial abuse may suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues as a result of the abuse. They may also struggle to rebuild their financial independence and regain control over their lives.The synopsis shows the reader that eventually a crime will take place but you have no idea with which character, and to be frank, as I read further into the book it could have been any of them! We see adultery, drug use, domestic abuse and the general hard work it takes to make life work. I found myself more and more embroiled in the story and eventually read the last quarter of it in one sitting. A woman once loved a man with a large wart on his nose. She thought him the most handsome man in the world. Years later, however, she noticed the wart one morning. 'How long have you had that wart on your nose?' she asked. 'Ever since you stopped loving me,' said the man sadly." As you can see, there are a few characters here, and consequently there are a lot of plot threads to keep up with too, but I found it fascinating as there was always something interested happening, and I was always wanting to find out what was happening next with these characters. I really enjoyed reading about James and Izzy's story, I felt it was the most realistic out of them all (although they are believable and could easily happen) but for me, this one just worked. Izzy tries to open a new café in these tough financial times, and this has an effect on the other things going on in their lives which I found fascinating to read about. Ruston does a really job in building up the tension throughout the book with these stories, not allowing too much to be revealed but enough to get your attention and get you hooked into the book, and consequently you find yourself whizzing through because you want to know what is going to happen next! Y otras que o no me han gustado o me han aburrido. Se me ha hecho larguísimo el dificultoso amor de Rana y Farid, su estancia en la prisión, sus reuniones de partido... Y algunos personajes se me han atravesado, y no me refiero a los malos oficiales (como la familia de Rana), sino a los que se suponen "positivos" como Claire, que al principio me pareció interesante y luego se fue desdibujando hasta convertirse en una madre sufridora sin más...

At its heart lies the story of Rana and Farid, two lovers whose struggle to be united must overcome old tribal structures and their country’s turbulent history.

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Others have been right to question Schami's choice of title for his book, for this is not simply about love's 'dark side', but about love in all its glory - the kind of love that conquers all, even death. Like some other reviewers I was expecting to read descriptions of Damascus and other parts of Syria that would give a true feeling of the area and that was one of the reasons that I got the book. There didn't appear to be much of this, there was hardly anything to describe or give character to the areas it was set in. A masterpiece! A marvel of prose that mixes myths, stories, tales, legends, and a wonderful love story… You will experience a Scheherazade in sparkling colours – a big love story, which does not spare us the sharp knives of grief.’

During counselling sessions, both parties can discuss their financial concerns and come up with a plan for managing their finances in a way that is fair and equitable. This may involve setting up a joint bank account, agreeing on a budget, and dividing household expenses fairly. The abuser may also benefit from learning about healthy financial boundaries and strategies for managing their own spending habits. Really enjoyed it, not quite as much as the previous two- (Luxury will always be my favourite, I just adored the glamour and insane wealth and indeed 'luxury'.) RAFIK SCHAMI was born in Damascus in 1946, came to Germany in 1971 and studied chemistry in Heidelberg. Today he is the most successful German-speaking Arabic writer. His novels have been translated into 21 languages and received numerous international awards. He is the author of The Calligrapher’s Secret, Damascus Nights, and Damascus: Taste of a City. Financial abuse can have serious consequences for both the controller and the victim in a relationship. As the brothers prepare to say goodbye to their mother, old wounds are reopened and they are forced to deal with the fact that what was once a family is no more. The death of the mother is the pivot around which the film revolves. As we enter the world of Julian, Michael, Steven and Chanel, we find that each is searching for identity and we are part of that quest.So, that was it for our topic of The Dark Side Of Love. It’s not a nice feeling when you can’t be with someone you love, but if you are ready to put in an honest effort in your relationship, you can make it work. Compromising, of course, is a choice. You either choose to make it work or you choose not to. I believe this fully. As long as something doesn’t go against your core values, you can try to go along with it. But there are still some cases when compromising isn’t enough. 2. Letting Go The Dark Side Of Love: Your inability to forgive is why you can’t be with someone you love Steven, our bachelor is looking for a wife and he is not really in the picture like the brothers but his role becomes very important later. When Julian goes home to prepare for the funeral, Steve surprisingly appears at his home with the excuse that Julian should not have to face the ordeal alone. What is so interesting here is that Steven maintains that he is straight and the he and Julian actually only met several days before. There is another character, Chanel (Raquel Rossner), Michael's girlfriend who comes along with Michael when he goes home to bury his mother. In diese Grundgeschichte werden viele Anekdoten eingeflochten, die viele Aspekte des Lebens in Syrien zwischen 1900 und 1969 zeigen: die Sippen, die Religionen (Muslims, Katholiken, Orthodoxe, Juden), die Ehre der Familien, die Lage der Frauen und deren Rechte (zum Teil recht beklemmend), die politische Lage (Putsche, Rebellen), aber auch das Alltagsleben. The heart is a different animal. A caged, lonely scavenger that feeds on its own wounds. Its scars never heal, because you can’t mend the very thing it needs to survive. So the wound continues to fester, until what’s left of the organ is eventually consumed by its own self-mutilation.” ― Keri Lake, Master of Salt & Bones