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Mornings in Jenin

Susan Abulhawa

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Oct 22, 2017 Settare rated it really liked it

One of the most painful things I've ever read. I can't write anything about it. I just can't. ...more

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Jan 22, 2025 Mahsa Shahshahani rated it really liked it

4.5
It was the first time I dared to pick up a fictional book set in Palestine (and not a diaspora Palestinian book). Before this, Palestine was, to me, an endless war—horrible news and images on TV and in journals that always made me question my humanity. How can I live my life while all those cruel images are happening in real life?

After reading this book, Palestine is more than that to me. Palestine has a face now. It has stories of life, love, longing, childish games, sinful lust, prayers, si 4.5
It was the first time I dared to pick up a fictional book set in Palestine (and not a diaspora Palestinian book). Before this, Palestine was, to me, an endless war—horrible news and images on TV and in journals that always made me question my humanity. How can I live my life while all those cruel images are happening in real life?

After reading this book, Palestine is more than that to me. Palestine has a face now. It has stories of life, love, longing, childish games, sinful lust, prayers, sibling rivalry, and competition. Palestine is no longer just about death for me. Now it’s about life.

I think this book was written in a very beautiful way. Originally published in 2006, it covers the history of occupation from 1948 to 2002. But it could just as easily have been written about 2023 and 2024 and the very recent war. Nothing has changed. Nothing.

I deducted half a star because any kind of romance in books gives me the ick, and that part of this book was no exception—it was hurtful for me to read.

This was a story about generations of Palestinians hoping and trusting the world, only to be betrayed over and over again. It was about a people who simply wanted to live and keep their land—a land inherited from 40+ previous generations. These were people who were portrayed as evil in the media for decades, while their worst crime was loving their land and refusing to leave their olive trees, horses, jasmines, and roses behind.

The book spanned multiple generations of Palestinians living through occupation, being born into refugee camps, falling in love there, and giving birth to resistance fighters and lovers of the next generation. It showed how these generations inherited the pain of their parents and grandparents, how all they ever knew was loss.

At one point in the book, Fatima told Amal that she believed Americans couldn’t love as deeply as Palestinians. She said this was because Palestinians had experienced and lived through such an immense spectrum of emotions—deep and profound loss, sadness, and rage. And so, when they love, they love deeply. But for those who haven’t endured so much loss and hardship, their love can’t reach the same depth.

I thought about what she said for a long time, and I think it’s true. It’s not just about Palestinians. It’s about all nations that have lived through hardship, war, dictatorships, and dystopias.

This book was incredibly fair—fairer than anything even I, as a non-Palestinian, could write about Israel. I don’t know how Amal found it in herself to forgive her brother. I really don’t. ...more

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