Mother of Strangers by Suad Amiry

Mother of Strangers by Suad Amiry

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR. Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951, this "fable-like historical novel of young love ... darkly humorous and touching" (Oprah Daily) is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its people.

Based on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers, Mother of Strangers follows the daily lives of Subhi, a fifteen-year-old mechanic, and Shams, the thirteen-year-old student he hopes to marry one day. In this prosperous and cosmopolitan port city, with its bustling markets, cinemas, and cafes on the hills overlooking the Mediter-ranean Sea, we meet many other unforgettable charac-ters as well, including Khawaja Michael, the elegant and successful owner of orange groves above the harbor; Mr. Hassan, the tailor who makes Subhi's treasured English suit, which he hopes will change his life; and the very mischievous and outrageous Uncle Habeeb, who insists on introducing Subhi to the local bordello.

With a thriving orange export business, Jaffa had always been a city welcoming to outsiders-the "Mother of Strangers"-where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived peacefully together. Once the bombardment of the city begins in April 1948, Suad Amiry gives us the grim but fascinating details of the shock, panic, and destruc-tion that ensues. Jaffa becomes unrecognizable, with neighborhoods flattened, families removed from their homes and separated, and those who remain in constant danger of arrest and incarceration. Most of the popula-tion flees eastward to Jordan or by sea to Lebanon in the north or to Egypt and Gaza in the south. Subhi and Shams will never see each other again.

Suad Amiry has written a vivid and devastating ac-count of a seminal moment in the history of the Middle East-the beginning of the end of Palestine and a por-trait of a city irrevocably changed.

Suad Amiry is an architect and the founder and director of RIWAQ, Centre for Architectural Conservation, in Ramallah. She grew up in Amman, Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo, and studied architecture at the American University of Beirut and at the Universities of Michigan and Edinburgh. Amiry participated in the 1991--1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in Washington, D.C., and from 1994 to 1996 was assistant deputy minister and director general of the Ministry of Culture in Palestine. She is the author of several books on architecture and was awarded Italy's Viareggio-Versilia Prize in 2004 for this book. She lives in Ramallah.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780593466940
ISBN 10	0593466942
Title	Mother of Strangers
Author	Suad Amiry
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2023-08-01
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.