A review by martha_is_reading
Shatila Stories by Fatima Omar Ghazawi, Rayan Mohamad Sukkar, Samih Mahmoud, Safiya Badran, Nashwa Gowanlock, Hiba Mareb, Nibal Alalo, Safa Khaled Algharbawi, Omar Abdellatif Alndaf, Omar Khaled Ahmad

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

 Shatila Stories was every bit as unique and memorable as I had hoped when my friend first sent it my way. Periene Press worked with nine refugees in the Shatila camp in Beirut to produce a set of interwoven short stories, and the result was a moving portrait of life in the camp. There were some triggering themes which I'll put in spoiler brackets below, but I thought they were tackled respectfully and were woven into the complex picture of life in a place that is not one's home, but has to become one's community out of necessity. The Shatila camp represents something that should be temporary for those displaced against their will, but it is also a seemingly permanent construction that has existed since the 1940s. Dangerously low-hanging electrical wires are coupled with housing and a community centre, it's a place of contradiction, and I thought that this book really brought that to life through achingly human stories. 
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