Reviews with content warning for Death - Enter Ghost

“'Sometimes a play is like an operation from the old days....You plan it, there's a script, but you never totally know how it's going to go. It's there. It's gone. It's like a firework.’”

I need more of Hammad's writing in my life. I need a physical copy of this book to read again, annotate, and analyze like a literary assignment from an English class. I want to reread this and also reread Hamlet along with it so I can analyze the play with the cast. I want to throw this book at others and listen to their takeaways to see what they caught that I missed. This is going to be one of those books that my future grandchildren are going to find among my things beat up and full of sticky notes and underlined passages.

In this book, we follow Sonia Nasir's summer journey from her home in London to visit her sister in Haifa. While there, she meets Mariam who convinces her to play Gertrude in an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Like any theater production, the following weeks are full of bonding, philosophizing, drama amongst cast, and finding pieces of yourself in the characters. Sonia's return to Palestine after years away also leads to personal discovery and reconnection to her family and identity.

I loved Hammad's use of mixing 1st person POV for Sonia and using a 3rd person script layout for the rehearsal scenes. I also enjoyed how smoothly Hammad writes complex discussions between multiple characters. From the start of rehearsals, the cast discuss what message they want to convey with their production and what it even means to perform Hamlet in the West Bank. The reader feels as if they are part of the discussion and it truly feels nuanced and organic. That's not an easy feat.

The ending! Entire panel discussions could be held just on the last few chapters.

“The Play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”

Content Warnings

kirstym25's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

rorikae's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'Enter Ghost' by Isabella Hammad is a contemplative novel about a woman returning home to Palestine and acting in a production of Hamlet.
While visiting her sister in Haifa, Sonia is introduced to Mariam, who is staging a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. In need of more actors, she casts Sonia as Gertrude. As rehearsals ramp up, so too do the obstacles that the production has to being put on. As Sonia reconnects with her past and works to heal from her time in England, the production of Hamlet becomes an act of resistance.
Hammad has created a deeply human story rooted in the importance of art as resistance. Sonia is a flawed, complex character, which makes her all the easier to sympathize with. Her past slowly unfolds as she reconnects with her sister and the land. This story also showcases the stark realities of occupation in Palestine, including the violence and persecution that Palestinian people are subjected to. Parts of the story were told through scripts, which was a great use of form though it didn't translate as well to audio as I think it does in print. My favorite aspect of this story is the actual production of Hamlet and how the company uses the play to speak to their current situation.

Content Warnings

tashtasher's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

mlewis's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

mmefish's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing. I'm so glad I've stumbled upon this book—it is, to me, an embodiment of a perfect novel.
I never know what to say in a 5 star review; I just loved everything about it.

The sex was like his rehearsal room: he drew me out, I waited for his approval, his adjustment, his suggestion; he the leader, I the star. I told him one evening that I wanted him to destroy me. I was shocked by the sound of that word in my mouth. He responded by becoming slightly violent, although the violence was more suggested than actual, more fleeting reminders of his physical strength. The oblivion I was asking for but did not understand persisted on the horizon of our affair like a summer thundercloud, and in the nights I ran through its long shadow as though I might reach it, while it remained there, taunting me from a distance, unbroken rain.

Content Warnings

More...