A Map of Home- Randa Jarrar

So this is a book by #palestinianwriter Randa Jarrar. Daughter of an Egyptian mother and Palestinian father, the book is a memoir of her life in Kuwait as a child, to Egypt, and then to the US. If I would describe her character as anything it would be "defiant". She is strong, obnoxious, smart, smart mouthed, in spite of a physically abusive father, instability after the Gulf war and being forced to leave Kuwait, and as an immigrant to the US in her teens.

She explores her ties to Palestine, ties to her parents, ties to the Sea in Alexandria, she explores her sexuality, her relationships, her dream to become an author, despite her oppressive father and his dictates. Again, she is defiant throughout. I loved the way the tone of writing changes through the book as you see the world through her eyes as a child and by the end it's like reading the diary of a young woman. I recommend this book as a Palestinian experience in the Gulf to the US, and the challenges of identity and independence.

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RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers)