2015 The war in Syria is flaring up with renewed vigor. Waves of rocket attacks cover long-suffering Aleppo. Chaos reigns in the city. Shurali Khan, the most beautiful and educated person in his family, is a member of the Jabhat al-Nusra group. Shurali was recruited in 2003 at one of the American military bases in Iraq. Tens of thousands of refugees are wandering across devastated Syria. Shurali decides to join them. Among the ruins of Aleppo, Shurali finds a shell-shocked child. The boy has a beautiful face and calls himself Iyari Zerababbel. On the boy’s chest is an ancient artifact of enormous value, donated by his father, called the Seed of Babylon. Shurali Khan, who has not known a peaceful life, goes to Europe on foot. On his shoulders is a rescued orphan and a war. Natalia Andryushina’s family purchased a cozy property near the Bulgarian Sunny Beach, in the ancient town of Nessebar. The media talk about the global crisis, wars, terrorist attacks, hunger and incurable diseases. The events of the outside world seem to Natalya’s family to be nothing more than a terrible fairy tale. After all, outside the windows of their cozy home the warm sea splashes. It would seem that what can connect these - so close and at the same time incredibly distant - worlds? The answers are in Tatyana Bespalova’s fascinating novel “The Rape of Europe.”