The Blue Between Sky and Water

(Paperback)

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From the author of the international bestseller Mornings in Jenin comes a powerful, passionate story of a family separated by conflict, and the tragedy they endure 'The story Susan Abulhawa tells in this marvellous novel is hard to bear but impossible to ignore ... precise, courageous, and dazzling' Teju Cole 'Gripping and deeply moving Suffering and resilience are difficult things to witness, but this powerful, politically engaged novel does so with a transformative literary grace.' Independent on Sunday It is 1947, and Beit Daras, a rural Palestinian village, is home to the Baraka family oldest daughter Nazmiyeh, brother Mamdouh, beautiful, dreamy Mariam and their widowed mother. When Israeli forces descend, sending the village up in flames, the family must take the long road to Gaza, in a walk that will test them to their limits. Sixty years later, in America, Mamdouhs granddaughter Nur falls in love with a doctor. Following him to his work in Gaza, she meets Alwan, who will help Nur discover the ties of kinship that transcend distance and even death. Told with raw humanity, The Blue Between Sky and Water is a lyrical, devastatingly beautiful story of a familys relocation, separation, survival and love.

Reviews

The story Susan Abulhawa tells in this marvellous novel is hard to bear but impossible to ignore. Through four generations of a Palestinian family, The Blue Between Sky and Water shows how historys assault on each person is public, and how it nevertheless cannot extinguish the private experience of grief or the secret sense of eros. Abulhawa's vision is precise, courageous, and dazzling -- Teju Cole
In true Thousand and One Nights style, Abulhawa surprises us by continually unfolding new stories Characters struggle to keep their secrets, but Abulhawa releases them. These are secrets we need to know, secrets that will educate us about ourselves, and Gaza * Guardian *
Gripping and deeply moving Suffering and resilience are difficult things to witness, but this powerful, politically engaged novel does so with a transformative literary grace. Abulhawas prose is luminous; her control of a complex weaving of narrative voices young and old, male and female, magical and real is masterful. The novel provides an intimate close-up of the women of Gaza and of the everyday heroism amid relentless loss * Independent on Sunday *
She is a fine observer of female kinship ... A powerful read * Financial Times *
One of the most thought-provoking books Ive read written with passion, honesty and poetry * Daily Mail on Mornings in Jenin *
Abulhawas writing shines Friendship, adolescence, love: ordinary events, offset against extraordinary circumstances, make the story live * Independent *
The writers pain and the beauty of her prose are very real * Daily Telegraph *
Powerful and moving * Stylist *
Powerful and passionate unforgettable -- Michael Palin
Heartbreaking -- Esther Freud

Author Bio

Susan Abulhawa was born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, when her familys land was seized and Israel captured what remained of Palestine, including Jerusalem. She moved to the USA as a teenager, graduated in biomedical science and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, she founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a childrens organisation dedicated to upholding The Right to Play for Palestinian children, and her essays and political commentaries have appeared in print and international news media. Her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin, was an international bestseller. She lives in Pennsylvania with her daughter.