Shereen Malherbe's Blog, page 16
January 26, 2022
British Palestinian author releases a new novel, ‘A Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre.’
Press Release
Manchester— 31/01/2022 — UK publisher Beacon Books announces the publication of, The Land Beneath the Light; A classic coming of age novel that explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine.
The Land Beneath the LightAll too often we are subjected to news of turmoil and conflict in Palestine. By exploring the lived realities of those living under occupation, The Land Beneath the Light presents an alternative. Drawn loosely from the author’s own childhood experiences of Palestine, Shereen Malherbe showcases the beauty of this war-torn land and its people in her new novel. It follows Khadija as she comes of age and struggles to come to terms with the trauma of her past and the uncertainty of her future, using her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage to survive. Through her novel, Malherbe shows that keeping this heritage and the stories of Palestinian people alive is one of the most powerful forms of resistance.
Author Bio
“Shereen Malherbe will be read more and more as the wind carries her original, powerful enchanting stories where rarely is a novel just a novel.”
Yousef Khanfar, Guest Editor, World Literature Today- Palestine Voices.
Shereen Malherbe is a British Palestinian author. After spending over a decade living throughout the Middle East, Shereen now resides in England with her husband and four children.
Shereen has been a writer and researcher for various organisations including Muslimah Media Watch, Middle East Eye, Muslim Girl, Sisterhood Magazine and has also appeared on British Muslim TV and Islam Channel discussing the representation of Muslim women, resulting in her classification in the Media Diversified experts directory.
Shereen’s debut novel, Jasmine Falling, has been voted among the Best Books by Muslim Women (Goodreads), and her second novel, The Tower is now an academic set text in a US university. Her short story, The Cypress Tree, was recently published in World Literature Today’s landmark edition, ‘Palestine Voices’.
Contact InfoPublisher:Beacon Bookshttps://beaconbooks.net/shop/the-land/info@beaconbooks.netPhone: 00 44 (0) 7907 299500Author:
Phone: 0044 (0) 7926617554
Book purchase available from all major bookstores & Amazon worldwide.
January 20, 2022
Open University’s Reading for Pleasure, Author Spotlight.
It was such an honour to be included in the Open University’s Reading for Pleasure, Author Spotlight.
“Reading for Pleasure is the entitlement of every child, yet how can we foster readers’ desire and engagement?Our research, a two phase Open University and UK Literacy Association project, examined children’s and teachers’ reading lives, and established effective ways to support Reading for Pleasure (RfP).”Designed for schools and parents, based on academic research, the scheme helps to foster a love for reading.
When I wrote my migrant children’s series, I did so in a school setting to encourage children to celebrate their differences and learn about one another through their stories.I’m so grateful to have this recognition and support from @theopenuniversity literacy scheme.If you know any teachers, librarians or schools that would like to add to their bookshelves, please share.
You can find out more on my featured books here:
January 10, 2022
The Land Beneath the Light
A Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre
All too often we are subjected to news of turmoil and conflict in Palestine. By exploring the lived realities of those living under occupation, The Land Beneath the Light presents an alternative. Drawn loosely from the author’s own childhood experiences of Palestine, Shereen Malherbe showcases the beauty of this war-torn land and its people in her new novel. It follows Khadija as she comes of age and struggles to come to terms with the trauma of her past and the uncertainty of her future, using her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage to survive. Through her novel, Malherbe shows that keeping this heritage and the stories of Palestinian people alive is one of the most powerful forms of resistance.
BlurbShereen Malherbe will be read more and more as the wind carries her original, powerful, enchanting stories where rarely is a novel just a novel.
Yousef Khanfar, Guest Editor, World Literature Today-Palestine Voices
From her rural farmhouse at the bottom of the hilltop surrounded by the Occupation, Khadija’s life changes forever when the shadows descend causing destruction in her village.
In the wake of upheaval and ruin, Khadija draws upon her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage and stories to discover a life she’s always dreamed of.
A classic coming of age novel, The Land Beneath the Light explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine.
Published January 2022 published by Beacon Books
Pre-order available now.
The Girl Who Stitched the Stars
Non-uniform day arrives at Noor’s school. Noor hasn’t ever been to school without her uniform before, and the clothes she loves to wear are different. What will she wear? What will the other children say? When she realises what her clothes mean to her, she must decide if she can be brave enough to share them with her friends.
Malherbe’s second book in the series that follows, The Girl Who Slept Under the Moon, will be published January 2022 by Beacon Books.
Celebrating DifferencesShereen Malherbe’s family live throughout the West Bank. Shereen is inspired to capture their stories and share them with the wider world. All children need to see themselves in the stories they read. A lack of representation filters into society and has a real effect on people’s lives, even more so on the lives of children.
Inspiration for the BooksShereen’s own move from the Middle East to the UK made her consider how best to keep certain cultural traditions alive for her children. As a writer, she naturally chose to do this through storytelling. When Shereen began researching the effect moving had on children generally, she also discovered we are living in a time of unprecedented change, with the movement of millions of children across the world. “One third of the refugees and migrants who have arrived in Europe are children.” (UNICEF). With this in mind, the theme of holding on to our identity and being confident enough to share it with others became the inspiration to write this children’s book series.
The #Palestinian art of #tatreez (Palestinian embroidery) features in The Girl Who Stitched the Stars and tatreez is now a recognised art by UNESCO.
‘The Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Riyad Al-Malki, welcomed the inclusion in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added that the step “is an affirmation of the Palestinian people’s roots in their land, Palestine, and their continuity of life on it without interruption for tens of thousands of years.”
He added that #embroidery “is a symbol of the Palestinian national identity, and its connection with the land, #history and #nature…”
(Quotation from Middle East in 24 news)
December 15, 2021
Meet Shereen Malherbe, author of The Land Beneath the Light.
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Sarah Mohr, a writer at Muslimgirl.com. I caught up with Sarah one evening to share with her the reason for writing my latest works, my upcoming novel, The Land Beneath the Light & my latest children’s book, The Girl Who Stitched the Stars.
(Republished from Muslimgirl.com)
Shereen Malherbe is a world-renowned British-Palestinian author and journalist who has contributed to a variety of media platforms including Muslim Girl, Middle East Eye, and Sisterhood Magazine, to name a few. She lives in England, recently having moved back after ten years living in the Middle East. She keeps herself super busy with her writing. She graduated in English Literature with Creative Writing in July 2019. We are happy that she took the time to speak with us about her work.
Muslim Girl: Thanks so much for sharing a little about your work and process with us. How did you start writing, and what is your history? You were recently interviewed on the Today Show and shared some wonderful news about the accolades that you have from a variety of sources. Can you tell us about all this, including the history of your work?
Shereen Malherbe: I began writing ten years ago when I traveled back to my heritage homeland in Palestine. I was walking through the streets with my husband when a tourist bus pulled up and tourists piled out, surrounded by security to take photographs of a local landmark, and then hastily retreated back onto the bus.I realized, that even people blessed enough to visit didn’t always see the real Palestine. I was staying with my family in homes that have been in our family for generations, and I saw and heard things I had to share with the world. This led to my debut novel, Jasmine Falling published back in 2015. It was since voted one of the top 20 Best Books by Muslim Women in Goodreads.My second novel, The Tower was a continuation of the exploration of how the East is framed by the West and is a contemporary book, mentioned by a notable academic as, ‘How you write outside of Orientalism, even internalized.’ It has since been used as an academic set text in an American University on Muslim voices.My upcoming novel, The Land Beneath the Light is my most personal story yet.
Muslim Girl: Your upcoming novel, The Land beneath the Light is a Palestinian re-imagining of Jane Eyre. Your process of actually going to Palestine to visit your family there and what you found was riveting when I first heard it. It tells us so much about the situation of Palestinians living under the occupation and what their world is like. Can you share with us your process of writing the book, what you saw when you visited your relatives, and why you chose to write what you wrote?
Shereen Malherbe: I stayed in a rural village just outside Ramallah with my family in a house that has been in our family for generations. My family there use the land and its incredible produce, go picking for sage in the fields and sell their wares at the markets.But amongst the life, there are abandoned houses and overrun orchards and farms growing wild and unattended. The village is also on the hilltops in a secluded position, surrounded by the occupation. When I came to research the novel, I found the village itself is all but erased on satellite maps. But it exists and there is life there, and that made me more determined to shine a light on it.
Muslim Girl: You talked about how Jane Eyre is steeped in Christian theology but is never pigeonholed as Christian literature. Can you share more about how while this is based on Islamic theology, you don’t think it should be labeled narrowly as Muslim fiction?
Shereen Malherbe: I believe that spirituality is part of being human. To eradicate that from characters isn’t always realistic, since many of my Muslim characters use their faith to make decisions about their life. Also, to separate that from the reasons my family is tied to Palestine and its land, it is inextricably linked to faith. If I am to represent that authentically, then Islamic theology is an integral part of the experience.I believe these universal themes and theologies can be understood by others and therefore, these books are for everyone. Classic British books are world-renowned, despite their heavy use of religious themes. I would love to reach a stage where these themes do not limit the audience, just as it doesn’t for the classics.
Muslim Girl: Generally, your work has focused on changing the narrative away from what you have called “monotonous stereotypes” of Muslim women. How does your work do this?
Shereen Malherbe: I was blessed with being able to spend a long time living and traveling throughout the Middle East. The Islam and the culture I lived amongst are still framed using heavily overused stereotypes, and they just weren’t representative of my experiences or the people around me.I also spent years writing on the representation of Muslim women in the media. The perpetuated stereotypes and the age-old problem of Orientalism are still a huge problem today. And it has a real effect on communities. Islamophobia rises when we have these negative stereotypes consistently reinforced through media, and I want to contribute to that change.That is another reason why I am reinventing the classic for The Land Beneath the Light. I am concerned with who is capturing the Palestinian heritage and what they are saying. History is being erased at an unusually quick rate under occupation and I want to share what I experience before stories, history, and places are erased.
Muslim Girl: It is really exciting news that you also have a Children’s book coming out in January as part of a series that you are working on. What is the story of The Girl who Stitched the Stars?
Shereen Malherbe: The Girl Who Stitched the Stars is the second book in the series, following on from The Girl Who Slept Under the Moon. It follows Noor, a Palestinian girl who moves from the East to the West, and shows how her differences can be celebrated through sharing and telling stories. It is designed to encourage children to celebrate this difference, break down barriers and learn more about each other.
We have recently had some great news that this series and my work will be published by The Open University’s Reading for Pleasure literacy scheme that helps teachers and librarians select books for schools. You can now pre-order The Girl Who Stitched the Stars via our Kickstarter campaign. There is also a bundle option, so you can buy The Land Beneath the Light at the same time now, as they are both going to be published in January 2022.
Muslim Girl: It is interesting also that for your research, you have read some non-fiction work, including Stealing from the Saracens, How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe by Diana Darke which is a great title. I am a Californian and read a lot of English literature as a young girl, and the word always evoked such mystery and intrigue. When I became a Muslim in my 20s, the whole idea shifted radically in my consciousness as I better understood the complexity of the relationship between England and the Middle East, as well as the problematic and oppressive nature of history. What is the story of this book?
Shereen Malherbe: Yes, as part of my research for a gothic reimagining set in Palestine was how the architecture would work if I moved the setting as traditionally a lot of the books are set in England. When I read this, I saw that a lot of British architecture was from the Middle East, and this further cemented this idea that a reimagining of Jane Eyre was a perfect vehicle to portray my next novel.
Muslim Girl: I was happy to hear your writing also includes a short story that recently was given some high honors. Can you share about this as well?
Shereen Malherbe: My short story, The Cypress Tree, was recently published in the prestigious US-based magazine, World Literature Today. It is a landmark edition because, in its almost 100-year history, this is the first issue exclusively on Palestine Voices. With all the incredible voices, I was thrilled to hear that my short story was included in the historic issue. I’ve since been informed that there is a copy of the magazine in the Presidential White House, and that is just incredible because it shows that art and writing can amplify voices.
Muslim Girl: What would you share with our readers who want to break into the world of book publishing? How did you do it?
Shereen Malherbe: I often get asked this question and the reality is, that you need to find your voice and your unique perspective. Write what you are most passionate about and what you would continue to write about whether you became published or not.You need to love writing and what you write about enough that it keeps you going through the long career path that it usually takes before your work gets noticed. The key is to keep writing, though you can only improve and find your voice if you write.
Muslim Girl: Any final thoughts you would like to share with our readers?
Shereen Malherbe: I’d love to share the link to pre-order my new novel, The Land Beneath the Light, and/or my children’s book, The Girl Who Stitched the Stars. In order to raise global awareness of its upcoming publication, my publisher Beacon Books.net has launched a campaign to pre-order the book. If you click on ‘Rewards’ you can select which title you want to buy and on its publication in January 2022, you will be one of the first to receive a copy.We would love you to get involved and join and share our campaign to get the word out that there is a Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre, The Land Beneath the Light coming soon!
You can follow me on Instagram @shereenmalherbe and via my website http://www.shereenmalherbe.com
November 10, 2021
Author Shereen Malherbe on The Today Show
“Shereen Malherbe will be read more and more as the wind carries her original, powerful, enchanting stories, where rarely is a novel just a novel…” Yousef Khanfar.
Watch the show to find out more about The Land Beneath the Light which is due to be released in January 2022. A Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre, that I was inspired to write to capture my family’s history and heritage. You can also pre order now via publisher Beacon Books.
It was a pleasure to be invited to discuss my upcoming novel and my other new projects on The Today Show. It was a great experience and the team were professional and friendly. I also had the chance to meet legendary YouTuber, Super Saf who followed my interview on the show. A big thank you to designer @Ramzag for her wonderful tatreez on my abaya that she hand stitched to celebrate the upcoming release. If you are interested in Palestinian embroidery, you might be interested in checking out my second children’s book, The Girl Who Stitched the Stars.
If you didn’t manage to catch me on the show, you can watch it here via Islam Channel. Enjoy!
October 11, 2021
Shereen Malherbe appearing on Islam Channel’s new lifestyle show
Shereen Malherbe will be appearing live in Islam Channel’s new lifestyle show, The Today Show on October 15 2021 from 7pm to discuss the upcoming release of her latest Palestinian novel, The Land Beneath the Light.
Book Summary:
From her rural farmhouse at the bottom of the hilltop surrounded by the Occupation, Khadija’s life changes forever when the shadows descend causing destruction in her village. In the wake of upheaval and ruin, Khadija draws upon her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage and stories to discover a life she has always dreamed of.A classic coming of age novel, The Land Beneath the Light explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine. Steeped in Islamic theology it provides an ethereal backdrop to a story set in one of the most sought after places in the world.
The Land Beneath the Light is now available to pre-order via publisher Beaconbooks.net
September 1, 2021
The Land Beneath the Light
Cover Reveal for my latest novel,The Land Beneath the Light‘A Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre.’Book Summary:From her rural farmhouse at the bottom of the hilltop surrounded by the Occupation, Khadija’s life changes forever when the shadows descend causing destruction in her village. In the wake of upheaval and ruin, Khadija draws upon her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage and stories to discover a life she’s always dreamed of.A classic coming of age novel, The Land Beneath the Light explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine.Thank you to the team behind this:
To the talented & lovely @sarahnestiwillard who created the cover.
To the graphic designer for his expertise.
To @beacon_books for their support publishing a work that means so much to my Palestinian heritage and for this addition to the literary work surrounding it.
To all the future readers for your continued support.
Available to pre-order now via Beacon Books.
August 24, 2021
Shereen Malherbe live on British Muslim TV
Join me live on 01/09/2021 at 21.30 BST as I discuss my upcoming new novel, The Land Beneath the Light.
To celebrate the launch, we will be revealing the book cover and the preorder link will go live so you can order your copy September 1st 2021.
Book Summary.
‘A Palestinian reimagining of Jane Eyre’
From her rural farmhouse at the bottom of the hilltop surrounded by the Occupation, Khadija’s life changes forever when the shadows descend causing destruction in her village.
In the wake of upheaval and ruin, Khadija draws upon her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage and stories to discover a life she has always dreamed of. A classic coming of age novel, The Land Beneath the Light explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine.
‘With an entirely Palestinian narrative, this quiet story weaves a tale of existence.’
July 16, 2021
New novel announcement-The Land Beneath the Light.
New novel announcement 
I wanted to tie in my attendance @worldlittoday Palestine Voices event with the news that @beacon_books will be publishing my next novel, The Land Beneath the Light.
From her rural farmhouse at the bottom of the hilltop surrounded by the Occupation, Khadija’s life is changed when the shadows come and cause destruction in her village. In the wake of upheaval and ruin, Khadija draws upon her deeply rooted Palestinian heritage and stories often shared through the voice of a storyteller. A classic coming of age novel, The Land Beneath the Light explores the lived reality of those living under Occupation in Palestine. Rooted in Islamic theology, it provides an ethereal backdrop to a story set in one of the most sought after places in the world.
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My family live throughout the West Bank and when I last visited, events there changed my outlook on how my family live under Occupation.
I have an urgency to share and capture this because I don’t know what Palestine my children will inherit and I don’t want my family’s stories to be lost.
As @yousef.khanfar eloquently says in his @worldlittoday introduction, “These magical narratives might not save lives, but they save souls.”
If you would like to be part of this journey, please get in touch with me or @beacon_books
Thank you all for your continued support on this personal journey.
