Reviews

It has a density that is to be expected of a book with such a remarkable scope. I love deep, immersive, expansive historical fiction so who knows why I left this sitting on my shelf for so long. My reasons for picking it up now though are obvious. Books are windows to other worlds, transporting us between time and place, but most importantly, perspective. Fiction I think often does this much better than non-fiction as evidenced in a book like this one.

This is an ambitious novel by any standards but Hammad animates so vividly a history I knew only a little about, and it is this energy that makes this book in particular so powerful. All the best things about historical fiction are, thankfully, not lost to this ambition - in fact, it is quite the opposite. It is vivid with detail and rich in emotion. It reads like one of the behemoths of classic literature that we're used to seeing set in Europe or the Americas. This is every bit as good with its magnificently controlled prose that with today's context has a renewed sense of urgency. It is grand, ambitious and accomplished yet written with an apparent ease and intimacy with its characters that is extraordinary considering it was Hammad's debut.

The ending felt hopeful, but we know what lies ahead.

mitchk's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I need to understand more of the history of the Palestinian people - the relationship with Syria and the circumstances of their British and French occupation. So I turned to fiction to guide me, educate me and help me set the current atrocities in their historical context. And this book did this amazingly. From the 1913 Arab National Congress to the 1936 British army offensive this book educated and engaged me. I learn though story and following Mehat as a young Arab student journeying to Paris, though to his witnessing violent martial law in his hometown 2 decades later. I learnt, I empathised and I was deeply saddened. Can’t believe this powerful book is a debut.

book_love001's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No

2.5

libellus's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

yannyyanyan26's review against another edition

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2.0

Too unfocused and got into the weeds, had a brilliant beginning and interesting synopsis but just could not hang on until the end

perfectplaces's review against another edition

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boring as sin. didn’t finish it in time to submit my diss which means i’m never gonna finish it

julieyue's review against another edition

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1.0

Did not finish -- full of serious technical problems of characterization, motivation, scale, and, frankly, even genre (apparently a family biography masquerading as a historical novel but fails on both counts, as intimate portrait and as riveting history). A reminder that a train of strong sentences do not a good book make; there were entire pages that lacked clarity about what was actually happening and what/who was important, despite its success at producing atmospheric, seemingly intelligent prose. Perhaps a more canny editor would have steered this story toward the form of an extended personal / historical essay to make use of Hammad's better tendencies. Hopefully Hammad's next book will prove more mature (and shorter? lol) as she seems to be a good stylist; this one was overhyped and disappointing.

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