July 6, 2015
Abulhawa’s (Mornings in Jenin) tale of a Palestinian family is suffused with mystery, pain, and love. During the Israeli attack on the camps in Gaza on Dec. 27, 2008, young Khaled experiences something akin to Locked-in syndrome, something that he calls “a place of blue,” and from this state he is able to both witness the present and participate in the past. He is real enough to teach his great-aunt Mariam to read back in the family’s home village of Beit Daras long before he is born. In the present, Nur, an American-born psychotherapist of Palestinian descent, hears of Khaled and is spurred to travel to Palestine to attempt to help him, not knowing that she is herself a lost member of the family. Nur’s own life has been filled with loss and abuse. Her beloved grandfather died before he could bring her back to Gaza, and she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather before being rescued by a loving social worker, Nzinga. In Palestine, Nur finds “life and love and death and will were packed close.” Abulhawa’s characters’ lives vividly depict resiliency in the face of adversity.