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Arabella, a New York theatre director from a Palestinian family, is old at 35 to not be married (!). She has growing feelings for her Israeli friend so, when she gets the opportunity to direct a show in the West Bank, she agrees to meet Aziz, arranged for her by her grandmother.

This had a very similar underlying plotline to Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, but in the style of Xóchitl González books - I loved it!

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This was a difficult read due to the MC's risky behaviours and unsettling psychological state. Zaher packs a punch in a small volume, with her chosen themes of statehood and statelessness, inherited trauma, physical and mental displacement, mental health, loneliness and the risks of being vulnerable with others.

It was a fascinating read and I look forward to more from such an accomplished author.

I picked this up on vacation without knowing a thing about it. I liked the author‘s writing style. I wanted to like it. But the story just didn‘t connect for me at all. I‘d give it a pan but I really did enjoy the writing, and I didn‘t feel like I was forcing myself to finish it. But I wouldn‘t recommend it. This copy is going to a neighborhood Free Library.

Maybe the first sign that the unnamed narrator shouldn‘t be teaching young men is that she wheels her supplies in a CVS cart—a sign that she‘s ready to take. If she teaches the boys anything, it‘s the value of pretense: dressing well, sneaking around, crafting stories. You can spend all day trying to clean the dirt off you, or you could learn a lot more about yourself by throwing it around.

My current audiobook. I'm only 24% in, so not entirely sure where it's going, but it looks like nowhere good 😅 The MC is an utterly unlikable ball of narcissism and unresolved trauma. I can't help thinking that if the Women's Prize really had to have rich people immigrant problems , this is a better choice than the boring Persians. And if they wanted women being gross and transgressive, All Fours has nothing on this woman's skincare rituals.

“These Olive Trees is far more than a picturebook about a refugee experience. It provides a distinct look into the resilience and culture of the Palestinian people.“ See the full review of this picturebook here: https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/xvii-1/8/

You know how sometimes you‘re reading a book and thinking: Is this a waste of my time? Well, this felt like it. I just couldn‘t get where this story was going…And don‘t get me wrong, I don‘t mind reading about a character‘s day to day, but this just felt like it was leading nowhere.

Bailed at 25%

I was into this audio at the beginning but I found it to drag on the middle—so much so that I found myself skipping and I NEVER do that. I could have missed something vital, so take this with a grain of salt. I know theater doesn‘t work for me in literature so it‘s my fault. I loved the MC‘s backstory and the set up: Sonia returns to her home to discover so much has changed: grandparents have passed, houses sold. Timely: Palestinian experiences.

A complicated novel about a complex topic - lots of characters and identities in the Middle East. A great reflection on identity and resistance.