Blindfold by Theo Padnos chronicles the real-life story of American journalist, Theo Padnos, who was kidnapped and tortured by al Qaeda affiliate Jebhat al Nusra for two years before being set free.

Given the graphic nature of stories such as these (⚠️TW: torture, violence, terrorism) I’m careful in those I pick up, wanting to make sure it will add something to my understanding of the conflict rather than being a gratuitous read, and this book does offer a unique perspective to others I’ve read. Theo’s account combines his personal experience with political background on the conflict itself and is unique in that it does shed some light into the mindset of his captors and how they come to be embroiled in this cycle of terrorism. I’ve seen some reviews criticize this empathy, but I would say it came across as more of a balanced account of the reality of this conflict told with a journalist’s eye.

That being said, the back and forth between personal experience and political knowledge did slow the pace of the book down considerably, which made it harder to get through. Similarly, although recounting the sequence of events he endured, Theo does not share much of his own emotional experience of the ordeal. I fully recognize that Theo does not owe this to anyone – it is his lived experience and this trauma is his to unpack in whatever way is comfortable for him – but when reading a memoir, one expects an inside look in to the experience and with this story missing much of that piece, it felt very factual and detached which again contributed to it being a bit harder to get through.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a novel perspective of this conflict and ordeals such as these, but would recommend tempering your expectation in terms of the amount of personal disclosure you’re expecting from this memoir.

Thank you @simonschusterca @scribnerbooks for my #gifted copy!