A review by lepasseportlitteraire
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

In this masterpiece, Susan Abulhawa gifts us with a heart-wrenching novel following the Palestinian family of the Abulhejas throughout four generations of Israeli occupation. The family is forcibly removed from their hometown of Ein Hod and moved into the Jenin refugee camp. Through the different components of the family and their different dreams and destinies, Susan Abulhawa tells not only the Abulhejas story but the stories of all Palestinians.

If you are looking for a historical novel that will give you some understanding of the creation of Israel and how it impacted people’s lives, this is for you: while giving some historical information, it concentrates and gives a central spot on the stage to the humanistic side of things, particularly showing how Palestinians lived the invasion first, and how the protraction of the occupation as well as the international community silent acceptance of it bred sentiments of injustice which eventually fueled rebellion.

As you might know, if you have been following me for a while, Susan Abulhawa’s « Against the loveless world » is one of my favorite books ever, and I can easily say that « Mornings in Jenin » has joined it in my top reads ever, and Susan Abulhawa the list of my favorite writers. The novel is not an easy read, and how could it be considering the Palestinian struggle? But it is a necessary one. It has primordial historical relevance, and if I could rewrite the scholastic programs I would add it to the list of essential readings.