Somewhere, Home - Hardcover

Jarrar, Nada Awar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434010332 ISBN 13: 9780434010332

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2003

Synopsis

Like Rachel Seiffert's The Dark Room, Nada Awar Jarrar's book tells the stories of three individuals, which between them trace the impact of war, displacement and exile. The first tells of a woman returning to the mountains of northern Lebanon, to her childhood village and her memories of family and youth before the war; the second, set in Beirut before the war, tells of a privileged childhood and the impact on a young girl of her friendship with a Palestinian refugee; the third of a woman taken by her husband to Australia, leaving her country behind her, never to see her family again. Between them, these three sections explore women's lives, the experiences of displacement and loss, of exile and return to the homeland, in a prose of exquisite precision and grace.

About this title

Review:

A novel set in modern Lebanon dealing with women's lives in the shadow of war and displacement. The first part tells of a woman who returns to the village of her childhood and her recollections of family life before the war. Part two, which is also before the war, is set in Beirut and is about a privileged childhood and a friendship with a Palestinian refugee. Finally, part three concerns a woman who goes to Australia with her husband and embarks on a totally new life. It is a very moving, quiet novel written with great elegance and much compassion. An excellent fiction debut for a new writer who was born in Australia and now lives in Beirut.

From the Publisher:

A stunningly beautiful and moving novel of the modern Lebanon, of women's lives in the shadow of war and exile, comparable to Rachel Seiffert's The Dark Room in its quietly powerful examination of ordinary lives in extraordinary times.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0434010332
• ISBN 13: 9780434010332
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240