• ‘My First and Only Love’ 

  

  Sahar Khalifeh’s book is a deeply poetic account of love and resistance through a young girl’s eyes.  

• ‘Minor Detail’ 

  

  Adania Shibli’s book is a searing novel meditating on war, violence and memory. It was longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. 

• ‘Where the Bird Disappeared’  

  

  This lyrical novel, by Ghassan Zaqtan, is set in the surroundings of the Palestinian village of Zakariyya. It weaves a narrative rich in sensory detail yet troubled by the porousness of memory. 

• ‘Trees for the Absentees’ 

  

  Ahlam Bsharat’s novel moves delicately between a young woman growing up and the occupation that looms overhead. 

• ‘Against the Loveless World’  

  

  Susan Abulhawa’s book follows Nahr, a young Palestinian woman who fights for a better life for her family as she travels as a refugee throughout the Middle East. It was among the finalists for the 2020 Athenaeum of Philadelphia Literary Award.  

• ‘Mother of Strangers’

  

  Based on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers in the late 1940’s, “Mother of Strangers” by Suad Amiry follows the daily lives of Subhi, a 15-year-old mechanic, and Shams, the 13-year-old student he hopes to marry one day.