Title: Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Multicultural, Political Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Amal's family was driven from their home with the creation of the state of Israel and her older brother, just a baby, was stolen from their mother's arms by an Israeli soldier in the chaos. In the refugee camp of Jenin, Amal is born into a family where the adults dream only of returning home and her mother has never recovered from the loss of her son. Mornings in Jenin follows the struggles of Amal's family over six decades, documenting their sadness and joy and the strength of their love.
I loved Mornings in Jenin. It's a fantastic and heartbreaking family saga, driven by Abulhawa's brilliant and captivating writing style. She's created intriguing characters, which provide North Americans with a face and a voice for the long-lasting Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
I found it interesting that though its clear Amal is the focus of the book, and the majority of the story is told from her POV, Abulhawa chose to place Amal's birth several years after the tragedy of 1948. I think it was a smart decision as it made Ein Hod almost a fairytale for Amal, rather than a source of grief, but I think another author would have avoided changing POVs in this manner. In fact, I found the brief sections with alternate POVs a little disruptive and distracting at points though it may have helped emphasize things at other points.
I found Abulhawa's manner of storytelling engaging, the way events mostly ran in a chronological order, but occasionally looped back in order to give some anecdote or important bit of information. It made the listing of years at the beginning of each chapter particularly useful. I also thought it was interesting the way that Amal's adult reflections were sometimes worked into the accounts of her childhood, that she had never forgotten something another character had said or forgiven herself for some decision she made.
Mornings in Jenin is an incredible and haunting read, which really makes you think about the political conflicts occurring worldwide. Her characters are lifelike and their story is utterly moving. This is definitely a read that I'll be recommending to friends.
Thanks to Bloomsbury US for the complimentary copy of Mornings in Jenin. A positive review was not a requirement and the views expressed above are my own. For more information on Mornings in Jenin, check out the Bloomsbury US website.
