A Reading List of Palestinian American Literature

A Reading List of Palestinian American Literature

This article relates to The Moon That Turns You Back

Hala Alyan, author of the poetry collection The Moon That Turns You Back, has also published two novels: Salt Houses, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Arab American Book Award; and The Arsonists' City.

Her work is part of a flourishing Palestinian American literary scene. For a further taste of poetry, one might try Remi Kanazi, Lisa Suhair Majaj, Naomi Shihab Nye, or Fady Joudah, who just won the Jackson Poetry Prize. Nonfiction authors include Muslim astronomer Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, and political and cultural thinkers Ali Abunimah, the late Edward Said, and Steven Salaita. Ibtisam Barakat's Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood (2007), won an Arab American Book Award in the Children/Young Adult Category. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (2023) is a debut picture book written by Hannah Moushabeck and illustrated by Reem Madooh.

That's just a small sample from across a few genres. It would be impossible to present the true scope of Palestinian American literature, but here is a somewhat deeper look through five recent novels by Palestinian American women.

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa (2020)

Abulhawa's third novel draws from her life as a child of refugees from the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli War. From "the Cube," a solitary confinement cell in an Israeli prison, the main character Nahr narrates her life: her birth in Kuwait, her arranged marriage, refugee life in Jordan after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and a final return to Palestine, where she falls in love. The taut novel unfolds mostly through flashbacks and is unafraid to tackle controversial subjects such as sex work and life under occupation.

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat (2020)

The queer, Palestinian American narrator of this debut novel is 26 years old and pondering whether to start an MFA in creative writing. She knows her dysfunctional relationships – with her overbearing mother and with her girlfriend, Anna – are holding her back. Although she's recovered from eating disorders, she still engages in self-sabotage. She has cheated on Anna many times. Ultimately, she decides to go to The Ledge, a rehab facility in Kentucky, for a "love addiction" treatment program.

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj (2024)

Darraj's novel-in-stories illuminates a Palestinian American community in Baltimore. The Ammars are wealthy strip mall owners; their son hires a fellow Palestinian American to clean his house. An Arabic-speaking lawyer helps a woman advocate for her learning-disabled son. A police officer tries to reunite his sister and their disapproving father after her interracial marriage. An honor killing back home causes a furor. There is special attention paid to how women's lives have changed – or not – across several generations.

The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah (2020)

Afaf is the principal at a Muslim school for girls. One morning, a shooter targets the school. As tense hours pass, Afaf looks back on her life. When she was 10, her older sister disappeared. Her Palestinian immigrant father took up drinking, and Afaf became promiscuous as a teenager. A car accident and a deepening of faith helped the Chicago-based family turn their lives around. Chapters from the perspective of the shooter probe his motivations and ramp up the suspense.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum (2019)

In 1990, Isra is 17 but already her Palestinian family is planning her marriage to Adam, the eldest son of a Brooklyn deli-owning family. Her situation is contrasted, in alternating chapters, with that of her daughter, Deya, who is the oldest of four sisters being raised by their grandmother, Fareeda. Her goal is to go to college, but she is expected to comply with an arranged marriage. Readers also learn of Fareeda's experience as a refugee. Autobiographical for Rum, this is a story of clashing values and abused women.

Filed under Reading Lists

This article relates to The Moon That Turns You Back. It first ran in the May 1, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.