Raja Shedahdeh has created a beautiful and important memoir of his coming of age in Palestine. It is a personal memoir reflecting heavily on the primary conflict between his father and himself. However, its suffused with the tumultuous politics of the Middle East and and the Palestinian issue which forms much of the makeup of the novel. This therefore contributes to the multiple meanings of the title, which echoes the author's feelings about his family as well as the situation in Palestine in general.

I have read quite a lot of books on Palestine and this truly is one of my favourites - having a quite a different impact on me as shows the personal and both the physical sufferings Raja endures.

Overall, Raja creates a beautiful memoir demonstrating life in exile offering a personal, humane opinion on Palestinian life. For anyone with interest in the Palestinian issue this is a must read.