Mornings in Jenin

Palestine, 1941. In the small village of Ein Hod a father leads a procession of his family and workers through the olive groves. As they move through the trees the green fruits drop onto the orchard floor; the ancient cycle of the seasons providing another bountiful harvest. 1948. The Abulheja family are forcibly removed from their ancestral home in Ein Hod and sent to live in a refugee camp in Jenin. Through Amal, the bright granddaughter of the patriarch, we witness the stories of her brothers: one, a stolen boy who becomes an Israeli soldier; the other who in sacrificing everything for the Palestinian cause will become his enemy. Amal's own dramatic story threads its way through six decades of Palestinian-Israeli tension, eventually taking her into exile in Pensylvania in America. Amal's is a story of love and loss, of childhood, marriage and parenthood, and finally the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has. Richly told and full of humanity, "Mornings in Jenin" forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining political conflicts of our lifetime. It is an extraordinary debut. 'Mornings In Jenin is a powerful and passionate insight into what many Palestinians have had to endure since the state of Israel was created. Susan Abulhawa guides us through traumatic events with anger and great tenderness too, creating unforgettable images of a world in which humanity and inhumanity, selflessness and selfishness, love and hate grow so close to each other' Michael Palin 'The voice of Susan Abulhawa is honest, every word is heartfelt, the aim to honour history and acknowledge its facts. This book is a "tour" waiting to take with it all kinds of readers: the already converted, the uninformed, and especially those who are fortunate enough to live secure lives' Hanan al-Shaykh 'A powerful and heartbreaking book' Esther Freud 'I have never before read such a fascinating novel on Palestine and Israel. It gives deep insights while affecting me emotionally as only great novels can do' Henning Mankell