Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

   Mornings in Jenin is at once a beautifully written, tragically told story of Amal and her Palistinian family after the 1948 establishment of Israel. The author's telling is almost poetry; her turn of phrase and descriptive use of language create perpetually moving imagery that draws you into Amal's world allowing you to be an invisible witness in their daily lives. The use of both first and third person perspective is never jarring and only adds to the experience as you switch from observer to participant.
   Susan Abulhawa is a skilled and talented author whose writing convincingly proselytizes. Her personal perspective is clearly in evidence. I am not sure if her goal is to win converts to the Palistinian cause or to just convince her readers to consider its causes and reasons (though I have my suspicions). Either which way, I believe she succeeds in some measure of each.
   Herein lies the challenge her book was to me. My sympathies have never leaned to Ms. Abulhawa's and yet her book leads me to the desire to learn more. There is probably some truth to her story, but I believe in her description of a pre-Israeli Palestinian paradise like I believe in a pre-European Native American paradise; which is to say that I don't. However, I am curious to educate myself on the geopolitical history of the time as well as the actual events that occurred during the timeline of her Amal's story.
   An author who inspires their readers to want to learn more through the sheer force of their fiction is someone to talk about.



Favorite Quotes:

"The women laughed goodheartedly. 'Come, daughter. Come back to the world of women.' "

"It was a rotten quietude, devoid of fury, love, despair or even fear."

"One garment at a time, he dressed himself in vintage dignity..."

"Even when my body grew to big for his lap, the sun always found us cuddled together with a book."

"We hugged to seal our promise."

"In that week I see how familiar words can break like glass and reassemble into goblins that waylay the mind with their claws."

"They laughed, one raspy and toothless, the other like a sputtering malfunction."

"The pipe still smelled of the honey apple tobacco that Baba had smoked, the scent of my father's labored breath and tired clothes when he unleashed his love through the pages he turned for me at dawn."

"To the great irritation of Miss Haydar, we became quite fluent in this speech, which we put to use poking fun at her corpulence and nostrils, which started at the human and ended just before the clown."

"There is nothing quite so pure, as if pieces of God live in the faint breaths of babes. In Falasteen's yawn, I caught a whiff of divine promise, bequeathed even to us."

"Rage nominated me to hell."



Overall Opinion:

You may find yourself feeling scorn, disbelief, sorrow, anger and hope. You might wonder how much Abulhawa can expect you to stretch your credibility or feel her character's betrayal . You might believe there is a history you were unaware of. You will, however, feel that you have stumbled upon a book that you must read.



Rating:

9