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 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'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 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--the beginning of the end of
Palestine and a portrait of a city irrevocably changed.
