Mother of strangers

Sobre el libro Mother of strangers de Suad Amiry publicado por Random Usa en 2023:

Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951, this &ldquofablelike historical novel of young love ... darkly humorous and touching&rdquo (Oprah Daily) is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its people.bBased on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers, Mother of Strangers follows the daily lives of Subhi, a fifteenyearold mechanic, and Shams, the thirteenyearold student he hopes to marry one day. In this prosperous and cosmopolitan port city, with its bustling markets, cinemas, and cafés on the hills overlooking the Mediter­ranean Sea, we meet many other unforgettable charac­ters as well, including Khawaja Michael, the elegant and successful owner of orange groves above the harbor Mr. Hassan, the tailor who makes Subhi&rsquos 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&mdashthe &ldquoMother of Strangers&rdquo&mdashwhere 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 destruc­tion 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 popula­tion 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 ac­count of a seminal moment in the history of the Middle East&mdashthe beginning of the end of Palestine and a por­trait of a city irrevocably changed.