Soraya Antonius

Palestine

About

Soraya Antonius (1932–2017) was a Palestinian writer, journalist, filmmaker, editor, and cultural activist. Born in Jerusalem during the British Mandate, she was the only child of George Antonius, a prominent Arab intellectual and diplomat, and Katy Nimr, a socialite and philanthropist. She studied at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in England before attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Later, she settled in Beirut, Lebanon, where she worked in journalism, publishing, and cultural preservation. Deeply committed to Palestinian history and political representation, Antonius was a founding member of the Fifth of June Society, which sought to educate journalists and the public about Palestine. She also wrote and produced Resistance, Why?, a documentary about the Palestinian revolution. Her two novels, The Lord (1986) and Where the Jinn Consult (1987), explore Palestinian society under British colonial rule, combining historical insight with an examination of power, resistance, and cultural identity. Her writing remains an important contribution to Palestinian literature and the preservation of stories from a world transformed by conflict and displacement.

Books on TheBookRoads

All genres Historical Fiction Fiction Satire

All themes Colonialism

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The Lord

In British-ruled Palestine, a charismatic young man named Tareq becomes a figure of mystery and resistance. After leaving school, he travels from village to village as a magician, performing astonishing feats that earn him a devoted following. But beneath his extraordinary reputation lies a growing defiance of British colonial authority. As unrest spreads across Palestine and the 1936 Arab Revolt approaches, Tareq’s influence attracts the attention of Challis, a ruthless British police chief determined to crush the resistance. Decades later, amid the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, an English missionary recalls the young man whose fate became intertwined with the history of a nation. Rich in historical detail and vivid depictions of Palestinian society before the Nakba, The Lord explores resistance, colonial power, and the lives of people caught in the struggle for their homeland.

Where the Jinn Consult

Where the Jinn Consult

In the final years of British-ruled Palestine, Jerusalem’s privileged elite continue to enjoy their comfortable lives while the world around them edges towards catastrophe. When Maliha al-Ghal’s husband, a prominent Palestinian politician, is deported by the British, her carefully ordered existence begins to unravel. Her friend Violet Dhaishi, meanwhile, remains absorbed in social gatherings, shopping, and a secret affair with a British officer, oblivious to the escalating violence threatening their society. As bombings multiply and political tensions intensify, the Palestinian upper classes cling to their privilege, reluctant to acknowledge the forces gathering against them. Through interwoven lives, personal betrayals, and political intrigue, Soraya Antonius exposes the dangerous complacency of a society unable to recognise its impending dispossession. Both an intimate portrait of pre-Nakba Palestine and a fierce critique of colonial power and social privilege, Where the Jinn Consult captures the tragic distance between a world people believe will endure and the one they are about to lose.

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