Books from Palestine

What does it mean to call a place home when the land you long for has always been out of reach? In a crowded Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Waseem lives with a disability that leaves him largely unable to speak or walk. Much of his world unfolds through a small window, until Ameena, his spirited childhood friend, brings books into his life. Their friendship grows into a deep bond shaped by shared dreams, unspoken affection, and a longing to visit their ancestral homeland, Palestine. As the years pass, Waseem must confront the limits imposed on him by his body, his circumstances, and a world that often underestimates him. Yet his story is not defined by hardship alone. Humour, tenderness, and an enduring hunger for knowledge illuminate the everyday lives of people whose hopes extend far beyond the confines of the camp. With warmth and emotional depth, Lilas Taha explores love, disability, exile, and the search for belonging. Waseem is a moving portrait of a young man determined to claim his own future while holding on to the homeland he has never known.

In 1947, the Baraka family lives in Beit Daras, a Palestinian village surrounded by olive groves and fertile farmland. When their home is destroyed and the family is forced to flee during the Nakba, siblings Nazmiyeh and Mamdouh embark on separate journeys that will shape the lives of generations to come. In Gaza, Nazmiyeh struggles to rebuild her life in a refugee community, preserving her family’s traditions and nurturing the people around her despite repeated hardships. Meanwhile, Mamdouh eventually settles in the United States, where his granddaughter Nur grows up far from her ancestral homeland, struggling with loneliness and a fractured sense of belonging. Decades later, Nur travels to Gaza, where she encounters Alwan and her son Khaled, whose mysterious condition connects their families in unexpected ways. Blending Palestinian history, magical realism, and the intimate stories of several generations, Susan Abulhawa’s novel explores displacement, inherited trauma, family bonds, and the enduring longing for home.