Description
"From the internationally bestselling author of the "terrifically affecting" (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Mornings in Jenin, 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"--
Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Washington Square Press (2021), 400 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member fastforward
One thing I love about reading is it gives you opportunity to hear different perspectives. While I have read both fiction and nonfiction books about the Middle East, I'm not going to pretend I fully comprehend the complexities of the conflicts. All I can do is read, listen, and hopefully learn and
Nahr was born in the 1970s in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees. With money being tight and wanting to help finance her brother going to school, she becomes a prostitute. The US invasion of Iraq makes life even more difficult for Nahr and her family in Kuwait, so they are forced to flee and end up in Jordan. The book will go back and forth between the present time of Nahr being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison and the key events in her life that eventually led to her being locked up in what is known as The Cube.
There are some graphic sexual assault scenes in this book so fair warning this is a difficult read. Nahr and other characters also express their thoughts on Israel and Jewish people. In my opinion, it fit within the context of the story. I guess what I am trying to say is it felt authentic in terms of being in line with what those characters would think and feel. Now whether you agree or disagree with their opinions and actions, that would be a good topic for a book club discussion.
This book can be classified as historical fiction because it incorporates events from a war torn Middle East but Nahr is a fictional character. It's my interpretation of the Acknowledgment page, the author has interviewed Middle Eastern women, including prisoners, and was able to use that info to create and develop the character. Nahr was a strong female lead character and I felt invested in her story.
This might not be a book for everyone, but it was a worthwhile read for me. I am definitely interested in reading other books by this author.
I received an advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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I feel like by reading this book featuring a Palestinian refugee character, I was able to accomplish my goal of getting a different perspective. It was certainly a thought provoking reading experience.Nahr was born in the 1970s in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees. With money being tight and wanting to help finance her brother going to school, she becomes a prostitute. The US invasion of Iraq makes life even more difficult for Nahr and her family in Kuwait, so they are forced to flee and end up in Jordan. The book will go back and forth between the present time of Nahr being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison and the key events in her life that eventually led to her being locked up in what is known as The Cube.
There are some graphic sexual assault scenes in this book so fair warning this is a difficult read. Nahr and other characters also express their thoughts on Israel and Jewish people. In my opinion, it fit within the context of the story. I guess what I am trying to say is it felt authentic in terms of being in line with what those characters would think and feel. Now whether you agree or disagree with their opinions and actions, that would be a good topic for a book club discussion.
This book can be classified as historical fiction because it incorporates events from a war torn Middle East but Nahr is a fictional character. It's my interpretation of the Acknowledgment page, the author has interviewed Middle Eastern women, including prisoners, and was able to use that info to create and develop the character. Nahr was a strong female lead character and I felt invested in her story.
This might not be a book for everyone, but it was a worthwhile read for me. I am definitely interested in reading other books by this author.
I received an advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
Haunting. There are a few books that have haunted me through the years, books that when I hear the titles take me right back. This will join that very short list. Hair is such a complete character, we understand her thoughts, her actions, whether we agree with them or not. We first meet her in the
She is an ordinary girl, friends, loving family, querulous grandmother, until events occur that are not in her control. Nations intervene and move people around that chess pieces, taking away homes, lives, and suppressing those who fight back. We've seen this time and time again, in many countries, but this focuses on Isreal and Palestine. It is heartbreaking and shows how those who are losing everything try to do, fight back with what little us available to them.
It is also a book about women, how they fare in times of conflict, what they are forced to do for survival of themselves and their families. A poignant look at a young woman caught up in the cross hairs of history and a conflict up that is still ongoing. It us hard not to be moved by her story.
ARC from Edelweiss.
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cube, a new form of solitary confinement, she is now middle aged and reflecting on her last life. This will take the reader from Palestine, to Kuwait, to Jordan and back to Palestine.She is an ordinary girl, friends, loving family, querulous grandmother, until events occur that are not in her control. Nations intervene and move people around that chess pieces, taking away homes, lives, and suppressing those who fight back. We've seen this time and time again, in many countries, but this focuses on Isreal and Palestine. It is heartbreaking and shows how those who are losing everything try to do, fight back with what little us available to them.
It is also a book about women, how they fare in times of conflict, what they are forced to do for survival of themselves and their families. A poignant look at a young woman caught up in the cross hairs of history and a conflict up that is still ongoing. It us hard not to be moved by her story.
ARC from Edelweiss.
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LibraryThing member Carmenere
Against the Loveless World
Susan Abulhawa
2020
E-book thru NetGalley
When we first meet Yaqoot she is in a room she refers to as The Cube. It is located in an Israeli prison. How this Palestinian born woman, raised in a Kuwaiti ghetto for Palestinian refugees came to be in solitary confinement and
For many years, she felt at home in Kuwait and where she enjoyed a somewhat middle class existence with her family.
Political upheaval completely changed her life and took her to places she'd prefer not to have been but as the eldest child in a fatherless family she assumed the burden of caring for her mother, grandmother and brother.
Her short, loveless marriage only steeled her resolve to continue to live life as a single woman and care for her family, now refugees in Amman
When she is at last free to return to her birthplace, she is pleased with Palestine's lush landscape and spaciousness. However, there is trouble afoot and her former husband's family is at the heart of it.
Yaqoot's story is a sad one, filled with contradictions and oppression. Yet, the reader wants her to find happiness and a permanent home. The author's writing technique encompasses all styles making it a very readable and thought provoking novel which will surely ignite conversation making it great for book clubs.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this net galley in exchange for an honest review.
Susan Abulhawa
2020
E-book thru NetGalley
When we first meet Yaqoot she is in a room she refers to as The Cube. It is located in an Israeli prison. How this Palestinian born woman, raised in a Kuwaiti ghetto for Palestinian refugees came to be in solitary confinement and
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shackled to a wall for a portion of her day came to be, is told to the reader through Yaqoot reading her memoir to a journalist.For many years, she felt at home in Kuwait and where she enjoyed a somewhat middle class existence with her family.
Political upheaval completely changed her life and took her to places she'd prefer not to have been but as the eldest child in a fatherless family she assumed the burden of caring for her mother, grandmother and brother.
Her short, loveless marriage only steeled her resolve to continue to live life as a single woman and care for her family, now refugees in Amman
When she is at last free to return to her birthplace, she is pleased with Palestine's lush landscape and spaciousness. However, there is trouble afoot and her former husband's family is at the heart of it.
Yaqoot's story is a sad one, filled with contradictions and oppression. Yet, the reader wants her to find happiness and a permanent home. The author's writing technique encompasses all styles making it a very readable and thought provoking novel which will surely ignite conversation making it great for book clubs.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this net galley in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member marquis784
I received a complimentary digital copy of this arc book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
As Nahr sits in solitary confinement in the Cube, she reflects on the events leading up to her arrest. She was born in Kuwait in 1970’s to Palestinian refugees. After a
She had hoped her marriage to Mohammad would ensure financial security for her family. Ultimately he resumes a relationship with his old girlfriend, Tamara in Palestine. Nahr attempts to support herself with her retail clerk job and eyebrow threading. After she is persuaded by Jumana to work for her, Nahr is able to pay for her younger brother Jehad to go to university.
Nahr, whose birth name is Yaqoot, assumes the name Almas while working with the Muslim men. She denounced her birth name as her father had given her that name which was the name of his mistress at the time. She soon relies on Um Buaq who becomes her protector and an influential person in her life. Nahr eventually finds comfort and refuge within his family.
This is a touching story filled with how life can present difficult decisions and the consequences of the decisions made. There is a glossary at the end of the book which is very helpful for explaining the many Arabic terms used through the book. This culture finds tremendous meaning in food as elaborate ceremonial meals are described as a way of life for families. It’s a bittersweet story of live, life, survival and friendship during a time of political unrest where people are fighting for justice with desperate determination.
As Nahr sits in solitary confinement in the Cube, she reflects on the events leading up to her arrest. She was born in Kuwait in 1970’s to Palestinian refugees. After a
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brief marriage to an abusive, philandering man she resorts to prostitution as a means of survival from poverty. Due to the US invasion of Iraq she is labeled a refugee and sent to Palestine. She had hoped her marriage to Mohammad would ensure financial security for her family. Ultimately he resumes a relationship with his old girlfriend, Tamara in Palestine. Nahr attempts to support herself with her retail clerk job and eyebrow threading. After she is persuaded by Jumana to work for her, Nahr is able to pay for her younger brother Jehad to go to university.
Nahr, whose birth name is Yaqoot, assumes the name Almas while working with the Muslim men. She denounced her birth name as her father had given her that name which was the name of his mistress at the time. She soon relies on Um Buaq who becomes her protector and an influential person in her life. Nahr eventually finds comfort and refuge within his family.
This is a touching story filled with how life can present difficult decisions and the consequences of the decisions made. There is a glossary at the end of the book which is very helpful for explaining the many Arabic terms used through the book. This culture finds tremendous meaning in food as elaborate ceremonial meals are described as a way of life for families. It’s a bittersweet story of live, life, survival and friendship during a time of political unrest where people are fighting for justice with desperate determination.
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LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
Realistic fiction about the stark reality of life in Palestine for women. It is heart wrenching and completely unpredictable. I struggled keeping the characters straight and the audio had quite a few breaks and voiceovers which took away from the story.
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
In this novel Nahr, a Palestinian woman, recounts her life story from a prison cell, where she has been held in solitary confinement for many years. Nahr’s parents fled to Kuwait when she was young, and she grew up a refugee. As an adult, Nahr is forced to take extreme measures to support her
Let’s just say Western governments, especially the Americans, do not make a positive impression. If your mind is open to that possibility, you will come away from this novel with more questions than answers, but perhaps also a willingness to learn more about the complexities of the Middle East.
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family, with consequences that haunt her for years to come. Over the years she moved from Kuwait, to Iraq, to Jordan – always a refugee. When she was finally able to return to Palestine, it was a far different country than the one her parents left. Let’s just say Western governments, especially the Americans, do not make a positive impression. If your mind is open to that possibility, you will come away from this novel with more questions than answers, but perhaps also a willingness to learn more about the complexities of the Middle East.
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LibraryThing member burritapal
This!!
When the protagonist is very young, a young man named Mhammad moves in upstairs with his aunt. all of her girlfriends are jealous of her proximity to him, and ask her questions about him. (I want to start using this term for israel--"Zionist Entity".) She ends up marrying him, "seducing" him
P.26:
"Over the next few days, I pieced together Mhammad's story from a conversation among Sitti Wasfiyeh, Mama, and the neighbors. Mhammad came from a well-known family with vast land holdings, though most of it had already been confiscated by the Zionist entity -- that's how people refer to israel, like it'll go away if we don't say the name."
Palestinians are chased from one refuge to another, and never allowed peace wherever they're at. The protagonist was saving money from working for Um Buraq for her brother to go to university in Amman, Jordan. Coming home from the school break, he tries to convince his family to return with him to Amman from kuwait. Her grandmother, Sitti Wasfiyeh, asserted:
P.92:
" 'I'm not going anywhere. I'm tired of being chased out of wherever I am in the world. Out of haifa, then out of Ein el-sultan, then jordan, and now Kuwait? No. I'll just die here instead of facing another exodus. I'm too old for this shit that these shit people keep doing to us. Shit. All of it - shit!' "
When the Iraqis moved out of their occupation of Kuwait, the Americans moved in.
P.93:
"In one way or another, Palestinians would have to pay, not only because some collaborated with iraq, but also because we were a convenient proxy for vengeance against saddam."
P.94:
"A day later, I saw from my window the police and a military Jeep driving on our street. I ran to fetch my brother but by the time I reached the bottom of the stairwell, they already had him on the ground in handcuffs, beating and kicking him. I tried to intervene. An arm swung in front of my face against a black sky in the middle of the day. My heart throbbed. My cheeks pushed against glass. A car window? I bit my tongue. Then I lay stiff with pain on a plastic chair at the police station. I knew some time had passed, but only later understood it had been 10 hours. I had no memory of being beaten, but my body bore the evidence."
P.95:
"Our landlord was waiting for us when we returned [from jail, trying to get her brother released]. We had three days to pay 6 months back rent or he would come with the police to evict us.
'Most people in the country have been pardoned from paying their rent during the occupation,' I protested.
'Not palestinians. Your Iraqi friends gave you jobs. You have money to pay.' "
The next day the landlord came with the police, and using his master key, openex the door while the protagonist was on the phone speaking with a lawyer about getting her brother out of jail. They ransacked the apartment, taking whatever they wanted.
P.97:
"as the bank slowly unfroze accounts, hordes of people pushed and pried their way into the branches, and most ATMs were out of order or out of money. Remarkably, the restored Kuwaiti government announced that all bank accounts would be replenished to what they had been on August 2nd, the day time stood still, as if the past 6 months never happened. .. I waited 5 hours without success to access my account. The second day I camped outside the bank and managed to get a turn when it opened, but they would only allow me to withdraw a small amount, not enough to pay the landlord.
Trying to get a loan from um Buraq, she advises Nahr to go to the man who had paid money to "have her as a wife," until he tired of her, Abu Moathe, who is a bank manager.
In his office, He toys with her, curses her, and sexually molests her. While he's doing that, she sees, on his desk, a bank card attached to a paper, with a bank-assigned PIN, in his name. Without him noticing, she memorizes his PIN and puts the bank card in her bra. Many times afterward, to my surprise, she withdraws money from his account. Until the day that she can't.
After all the abuse, he allows her to withdraw most of the money from her account and she is able to pay the landlord.
Mhammad's brother Bilal and Nahr become friends when she goes to Palestine to process her divorce from Mhammad.
P.156-7:
"I had promised Mama to make the rounds to visit our own extended family as soon as I got to Palestine, but I found myself putting it off, spending my time with Bilal and Hajjeh Ym Mhammad [mother-in-law] instead, and contemplating the contradictions of this place, my birthright. The landscape that lived in the hearts of mama, bapa, and Sitti Wasfiyeh didn't feel like home, though it took hold of me nonetheless. There were no malls everywhere or miles of beaches as I was accustomed to in Kuwait (none that were accessible to palestinians, at least). No salons on every corner to get my lips and eyebrows threaded, have a full body wax, or get scrubbed in a Turkish bath house."
Bilal takes a special place in Nahr's heart.
P.157:
". . . He had inherited some animals and bought others when he was released [from prison, taking the fall for his brother]. Although he helped care for them, JanDal was their full-time shepherd. Together, Bilal and Jandal sheared them once a year for wool, which they sold to local garment factories. During Eid and for special occasions, people would buy lambs for sacrifice. But Bilal insisted on hiring his own butcher to perform the ritual halal traditions for his sheep. 'Because people terrify these animals before killing them. Few butchers actually adhere to halal requirements anymore,' he said. 'to tell you the truth, I hate that we even eat meat as much as we do. Sheep, cows, fish, whales, goats -- they are nations unto themselves. They too deserve to be free.' The primacy of humans was only one assumption I had never questioned until I met him."
When the protagonist is very young, a young man named Mhammad moves in upstairs with his aunt. all of her girlfriends are jealous of her proximity to him, and ask her questions about him. (I want to start using this term for israel--"Zionist Entity".) She ends up marrying him, "seducing" him
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with her dancing, at a wedding. P.26:
"Over the next few days, I pieced together Mhammad's story from a conversation among Sitti Wasfiyeh, Mama, and the neighbors. Mhammad came from a well-known family with vast land holdings, though most of it had already been confiscated by the Zionist entity -- that's how people refer to israel, like it'll go away if we don't say the name."
Palestinians are chased from one refuge to another, and never allowed peace wherever they're at. The protagonist was saving money from working for Um Buraq for her brother to go to university in Amman, Jordan. Coming home from the school break, he tries to convince his family to return with him to Amman from kuwait. Her grandmother, Sitti Wasfiyeh, asserted:
P.92:
" 'I'm not going anywhere. I'm tired of being chased out of wherever I am in the world. Out of haifa, then out of Ein el-sultan, then jordan, and now Kuwait? No. I'll just die here instead of facing another exodus. I'm too old for this shit that these shit people keep doing to us. Shit. All of it - shit!' "
When the Iraqis moved out of their occupation of Kuwait, the Americans moved in.
P.93:
"In one way or another, Palestinians would have to pay, not only because some collaborated with iraq, but also because we were a convenient proxy for vengeance against saddam."
P.94:
"A day later, I saw from my window the police and a military Jeep driving on our street. I ran to fetch my brother but by the time I reached the bottom of the stairwell, they already had him on the ground in handcuffs, beating and kicking him. I tried to intervene. An arm swung in front of my face against a black sky in the middle of the day. My heart throbbed. My cheeks pushed against glass. A car window? I bit my tongue. Then I lay stiff with pain on a plastic chair at the police station. I knew some time had passed, but only later understood it had been 10 hours. I had no memory of being beaten, but my body bore the evidence."
P.95:
"Our landlord was waiting for us when we returned [from jail, trying to get her brother released]. We had three days to pay 6 months back rent or he would come with the police to evict us.
'Most people in the country have been pardoned from paying their rent during the occupation,' I protested.
'Not palestinians. Your Iraqi friends gave you jobs. You have money to pay.' "
The next day the landlord came with the police, and using his master key, openex the door while the protagonist was on the phone speaking with a lawyer about getting her brother out of jail. They ransacked the apartment, taking whatever they wanted.
P.97:
"as the bank slowly unfroze accounts, hordes of people pushed and pried their way into the branches, and most ATMs were out of order or out of money. Remarkably, the restored Kuwaiti government announced that all bank accounts would be replenished to what they had been on August 2nd, the day time stood still, as if the past 6 months never happened. .. I waited 5 hours without success to access my account. The second day I camped outside the bank and managed to get a turn when it opened, but they would only allow me to withdraw a small amount, not enough to pay the landlord.
Trying to get a loan from um Buraq, she advises Nahr to go to the man who had paid money to "have her as a wife," until he tired of her, Abu Moathe, who is a bank manager.
In his office, He toys with her, curses her, and sexually molests her. While he's doing that, she sees, on his desk, a bank card attached to a paper, with a bank-assigned PIN, in his name. Without him noticing, she memorizes his PIN and puts the bank card in her bra. Many times afterward, to my surprise, she withdraws money from his account. Until the day that she can't.
After all the abuse, he allows her to withdraw most of the money from her account and she is able to pay the landlord.
Mhammad's brother Bilal and Nahr become friends when she goes to Palestine to process her divorce from Mhammad.
P.156-7:
"I had promised Mama to make the rounds to visit our own extended family as soon as I got to Palestine, but I found myself putting it off, spending my time with Bilal and Hajjeh Ym Mhammad [mother-in-law] instead, and contemplating the contradictions of this place, my birthright. The landscape that lived in the hearts of mama, bapa, and Sitti Wasfiyeh didn't feel like home, though it took hold of me nonetheless. There were no malls everywhere or miles of beaches as I was accustomed to in Kuwait (none that were accessible to palestinians, at least). No salons on every corner to get my lips and eyebrows threaded, have a full body wax, or get scrubbed in a Turkish bath house."
Bilal takes a special place in Nahr's heart.
P.157:
". . . He had inherited some animals and bought others when he was released [from prison, taking the fall for his brother]. Although he helped care for them, JanDal was their full-time shepherd. Together, Bilal and Jandal sheared them once a year for wool, which they sold to local garment factories. During Eid and for special occasions, people would buy lambs for sacrifice. But Bilal insisted on hiring his own butcher to perform the ritual halal traditions for his sheep. 'Because people terrify these animals before killing them. Few butchers actually adhere to halal requirements anymore,' he said. 'to tell you the truth, I hate that we even eat meat as much as we do. Sheep, cows, fish, whales, goats -- they are nations unto themselves. They too deserve to be free.' The primacy of humans was only one assumption I had never questioned until I met him."
Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa is an intense story about a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East. Growing up in Kuwait, she learns hard lessons about how women are held to be inferior,
This story gives us a human face to follow and is an interesting blend of fact and fiction. The perspective is unapologetically Palestinian and heartbreaking in it’s content of conflict, struggle and resistance. The story of her life is told by Nahr as she is being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison. We learn of her younger years in Kuwait, her family’s escape to Jordan and her eventual discovery of Palestine as her homeland.
I actually wanted to like this book more than I did. I have read Mornings in Jenin by this same author and absolutely loved that book. The troubles in that area of the world are on-going and have flared up again recently. I can’t ever see a resolution being found to this situation and my heart actually goes out to both sides. I suspect that was what I didn’t like in the book, it’s total one-sidedness made me uncomfortable. Although it is good to see the Palestinian side represented in literature, I now feel as if I need to read a pro-Jewish book to acquire some balance.
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and how being Palestinian makes everything harder. I was surprised that the Arab world is not particularly sympathetic to the Palestinian plight perhaps because they want to keep the devastating Israeli-Palestinian conflicts front and center in the world view.This story gives us a human face to follow and is an interesting blend of fact and fiction. The perspective is unapologetically Palestinian and heartbreaking in it’s content of conflict, struggle and resistance. The story of her life is told by Nahr as she is being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison. We learn of her younger years in Kuwait, her family’s escape to Jordan and her eventual discovery of Palestine as her homeland.
I actually wanted to like this book more than I did. I have read Mornings in Jenin by this same author and absolutely loved that book. The troubles in that area of the world are on-going and have flared up again recently. I can’t ever see a resolution being found to this situation and my heart actually goes out to both sides. I suspect that was what I didn’t like in the book, it’s total one-sidedness made me uncomfortable. Although it is good to see the Palestinian side represented in literature, I now feel as if I need to read a pro-Jewish book to acquire some balance.
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Awards
Aspen Words Literary Prize (Longlist — 2021)
Reading Women Award (Shortlist — Fiction — 2020)
Arab American National Museum Book Award (Winner — Adult Fiction — 2021)
Palestine Book Award (Shortlist — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019
ISBN
1982137045 / 9781982137045