Never before have I read such a fascinating novel about Palestine and Israel. It affected me emotionally in a way only great novels can -- Henning Mankell

A powerful and passionate insight into what many Palestinians have had to endure since the state of Israel was created. Susan Abulhawa guides us through traumatic events with anger and great tenderness too, creating unforgettable images of a world in which humanity and inhumanity, selflessness and selfishness, love and hate grow so close to each other -- Michael Palin

Abulhawa looks into the darkest crevices of lives, conflicts, horrendous injustices, and dares to shine light that can illuminate hidden worlds for us, who are too often oblivious. A major writer of our time, to read Abulhawa is to begin to understand not simply the misinformation we have received for decades about what has gone on in Palestine and the Middle East, but to come to terms with our own resistance to feeling the terror of our own fear of Truth -- Alice Walker

When we grow numb to horror, when our minds slam shut in shock and denial, sometimes a story can slip to reawaken our humanity. This is that story, never more relevant, and my heart is stronger for reading it -- Laline Paull

One of the most thought-provoking books I've read ... written with passion and honesty, and poetry - Daily Mail

A heart-shattering novel, timeless in its truth -- Fatima Bhutto

Abulhawa's writing shines ... Friendship, adolescence, love: ordinary events, offset against extraordinary circumstances, make the story live - Independent

The writer's pain - and the beauty of her prose - are very real - Daily Telegraph

Powerful and moving - Stylist

A powerful and sensitive narrative that encapsulates the Palestinian experience with searing honesty and moving compassion . In both its specific Palestinian content and its larger human dimension, this novel is at once a challenge to complacency and ignorance as well as an affirmation of all that is endur