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A review by illustrated_librarian
Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Thank you to Swift Press for sending me a lovely finished copy of this! ππ«
This collection of interlocking stories fit together to form a snapshot of the lives of Christian Palestinian Americans living in Baltimore. We're invited into the imperfect, passionate, complicated homes and lives of several families as Muaddi Darraj creates a human portrait of a community.
She tenderly explores the pains of being unable to return home, needing to find a new place to belong, and the fear of losing your identity and culture. But there is also joy to be had: siblings support each other, women find their voices, children care for elderly parents and there are second chances for love.
The blurb states this aims to challenge stereotypes of Palestinians, which it sometimes does, but more often I'd say it peers behind the 2D stereotype and asks: what trauma are these strict parents hiding? What do the older generation fear from integration? Why do our girls rebel? Why do our sons distance themselves?
I found the portrayal of the interplay of class and race in the tight-knit Palestinian community and the complex intergenerational relationships throughout the stories were the strongest parts. The title story encapsulates how socioeconomic divides create thorny power dynamics between people outsiders see as 'the same' by virtue of the colour of their skin. In Washing Lentils a young woman stays with her grandparents after a traumatising incident and they help her gently come back to herself through sharing food and stories. My favourite, though, was Worry Beads which shows the tender reconnection of a daughter, shunned by the rest of her family, with her rapidly declining father, while she navigates a new relationship in the shadow of her previous marriage.
All the stories I liked, and some of them I loved. The style is undemanding and easy to get into but truly moving in places, and the gradual widening of the web of connections across the community as we dip into their was well done. I'd have loved some longer stories with these characters, but this was a such a solid debut and an important one too.
This collection of interlocking stories fit together to form a snapshot of the lives of Christian Palestinian Americans living in Baltimore. We're invited into the imperfect, passionate, complicated homes and lives of several families as Muaddi Darraj creates a human portrait of a community.
She tenderly explores the pains of being unable to return home, needing to find a new place to belong, and the fear of losing your identity and culture. But there is also joy to be had: siblings support each other, women find their voices, children care for elderly parents and there are second chances for love.
The blurb states this aims to challenge stereotypes of Palestinians, which it sometimes does, but more often I'd say it peers behind the 2D stereotype and asks: what trauma are these strict parents hiding? What do the older generation fear from integration? Why do our girls rebel? Why do our sons distance themselves?
I found the portrayal of the interplay of class and race in the tight-knit Palestinian community and the complex intergenerational relationships throughout the stories were the strongest parts. The title story encapsulates how socioeconomic divides create thorny power dynamics between people outsiders see as 'the same' by virtue of the colour of their skin. In Washing Lentils a young woman stays with her grandparents after a traumatising incident and they help her gently come back to herself through sharing food and stories. My favourite, though, was Worry Beads which shows the tender reconnection of a daughter, shunned by the rest of her family, with her rapidly declining father, while she navigates a new relationship in the shadow of her previous marriage.
All the stories I liked, and some of them I loved. The style is undemanding and easy to get into but truly moving in places, and the gradual widening of the web of connections across the community as we dip into their was well done. I'd have loved some longer stories with these characters, but this was a such a solid debut and an important one too.