hardcover, 384 pages
Published Aug. 25, 2020 by Atria Books.
A sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties.
As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another …
A sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties.
As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation.
Just excellently executed, and engaging the whole way through. I loved it.
It's hard to find words that do justice to this story. Nahr is a Palestinian woman in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison. From the confines of what she calls "the Cube", she relates her story from her exiled childhood in Kuwait, to further exile in Jordan after the Iraq invasion, then finally finding "home" in her family's homeland of Palestine. Along the way, she is forced to make difficult choices in order to support her family, but her strong-willed nature and courage allow her to prevail even with the land is shifting beneath her feet. There was so much beauty in the strong family and friendship connections that Nahr builds throughout her life, and I was warmed by the strong sense of love for her people and her connection to the beautiful land of her ancestors. But the most compelling thing about this book is the perspective it offers …
It's hard to find words that do justice to this story. Nahr is a Palestinian woman in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison. From the confines of what she calls "the Cube", she relates her story from her exiled childhood in Kuwait, to further exile in Jordan after the Iraq invasion, then finally finding "home" in her family's homeland of Palestine. Along the way, she is forced to make difficult choices in order to support her family, but her strong-willed nature and courage allow her to prevail even with the land is shifting beneath her feet. There was so much beauty in the strong family and friendship connections that Nahr builds throughout her life, and I was warmed by the strong sense of love for her people and her connection to the beautiful land of her ancestors. But the most compelling thing about this book is the perspective it offers on the events that have shaped this part of the world over the course of my lifetime, and the true human impact of those events. Highly recommend.
