The Refugee Ocean

Two refugees find that their lives are inextricably linked — over time and distance — by the perils of history and a single haunting piece of music.

Born in Beirut in 1922, Marguerite Toutoungi lives a life of loss and sacrifice. She dreams of traveling to Europe and studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris but her family — and her society — hold her back. When she meets the son of a Cuban tobacco farmer at a formal dance, love transforms her life. Together with him, she flees across the Pacific Ocean. She's hoping for a new beginning. Instead, she finds revolution and chaos.

Over fifty years later, Naïm Rahil is a teenage refugee from Aleppo, Syria. A former piano prodigy who struggles to thrive in America — and who has lost part of his hand in the war — he dreams of a simple, normal life.

Moving from Aleppo on the brink of civil war, to Lebanon in the late 1940s, to Havana during the Cuban Revolution, to the suburbs of Washington, DC, The Refugee Ocean grapples with what it means to be an immigrant, shows how wounds can heal, and highlights the role of music and art in the resilience of the human spirit.

"Both thoughtful and seamlessly executed; a fine choice for book clubs." Library Journal

"In this timely and beautifully written book, Pauls Toutonghi offers a riveting portrayal of the refugee experience and a testimony to the enduring nature of art. I was swept up in the lives of these characters and deeply touched by their stories. This novel is itself a lovely and humane work of art." Alix Ohlin, author of We Want What We Want

"There is a tender fearlessness that runs through The Refugee Ocean, a book as unflinching in its depiction of conflict as it is anchored to the healing power of art. Pauls Toutonghi has written such a richly imagined and emotionally complex story set where the grand sweep of history collides with the innate human desire for shelter, connection and beauty. The result is an unforgettable novel about the way the lives of the displaced can echo through decades and across oceans, the way we are, even or perhaps especially when unanchored from the places of our birth, bound to one another." Omar El Akkad, national bestselling author of American War and What Strange Paradise

"A brilliant insight into war, on every level possible. The novel is a kind of waltz — sailing effortlessly in the ocean of refugees from broken dreams." Muhammad Aladdin, author of The Season of Migration to Arkidea and The Secret Life of Citizen M

Paul Toutonghi's parents were both refugees to the United States. He has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, an Andrew W. Mellon research fellowship, a Fulbright Grant, and a residency at Hawthornden Castle. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Outside Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Granta, Tin House, and other periodicals. He's married to the novelist, Peyton Marshall. He lives in Oregon, where he teaches at Lewis and Clark College.