Armenian Literature

If you want to discover the captivating history of Armenian history, then pay attention. Their story is tragic, but their survival is incredible. And that is what makes their tale so inspiring.

Swallows and Armenians is Karen Babayan’s timely introduction of this free-spirited and gifted family who inspired Arthur Ransome to write his first book of fiction for children; a book that has gone on to be a classic of Lake District mythology. The short stories in Swallows and Armenians are set in Coniston, Aleppo, Windermere, and Bradford and supported by a number of succinct essays by the author which introduce us to the turbulent history of the Armenian nation and its food, culture, and language.

During 1915 to 1923, one and a half million Armenian people were deported and killed in the most appalling ways comprehensible. They were ripped from their homes (in a land where they had lived for longer than history can tell, a land so old that many speculate it was the site of the biblical Garden of Eden) and sent off on death marches across the blistering Syrian Desert. They were shot on the thresholds of the houses where they were raising their children. They were butchered with swords in gruesome ways in order to dishearten those left alive.

As World War I begins, Constantinople is a seething hornet's nest of corruption, crime, and prejudice. Tavid Kaloustian, a cunning and determined young Armenian, does whatever it takes to protect his family and friends from a quickly approaching genocide. Trained as a chemist to work in the silk industry, Tavid trades his knowledge for both survival and the hefty profit of the opium trade. He is a major player in the local black market, moving stealthily through enemy forces often disguised as one of “them”.