“behind you is the sea. before you, the enemy. you have left now only the hope of your courage and your consistency.”

“i’d seen this quote before, maybe in one of baba's books, but i hadn't understood the meaning behind the words until i’d googled them one night. that's when i read about the invasion of spain and the famous speech by tariq ibn ziyad. he burned his men's ships at the harbor so the couldn't sail home; he'd known they were scared, so he made fighting their only option.”

i sound like a broken record because every time i read something new-to-me by a palestinian, i say that it’s going to be something i return to again and again, but i don’t think i’ll be able to get this book out of my head. 

the book follows members of three palestinian immigrant families in baltimore, spanning generations and weaving the stories together to show the connectedness of community. as the description says, it “faces stereotypes about palestinian culture head-on” and examines nuances and challenges within community. i found myself challenged many times while reading this, including while reading the chapters focusing on a cop character, who is one of the throughlines of the book; how much sympathy could i relegate, even while understanding the character could i extend grace to a cop (turns out the answer is no, but i’m glad it made me think). at other times i found myself questioning how much of my western upbringing and socializing was contributing to my reactions, and questioning how much forgiveness can be given when you know the pain and abuse in someone’s backstory. 

this small book gave me a lot to think about, and i’m grateful that p posted about it and got it on my radar. worry beads was my favorite story, following a 40yo woman whose only advocate in her family is her father who is falling faster into dementia. she appeared earlier in the book and getting details about her life just hit me really hard. 

behind you is the sea is a recent release and i definitely recommend picking up a copy when the strike is over.