A review by bookishwithbug
Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

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

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

4.25

Story premise: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Character development: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ending: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy."

While this was said hundreds of years ago by an invading Islamic General, the characters in Susan Muaddi Darraj's debut novel draw from it in times of struggle, in search of hope.

We're introduced to an array of characters from three interconnected Palestinian families, spanning multiple generations -- each impacted by the complicated history of their ancestral homeland. Every chapter finds its own narrator and sheds light on the complicated journey through life in the United States as an immigrant or the children  of immigrants. The characters meet and turn on their head many common stereotypes of Arab immigrants as they live through love, loss and generational trauma.

Throughout each story, Palestine looms large, a silent but ever present character in the background. It's clear each person has a different relationship to where they've come from as well as where they've ended up. This is particularly true as we navigate the difficult relationships between the elder generations, who lived through the Nakba or left their home in Palestine, and the younger generations who were born abroad and for whom "home" is a story, a shadow. 

The power of this novel lies in the author's ability to paint each character with a depth that many other authors only find in hundreds of pages. I fell in love, had my heart broken and pieced it all back together in every chapter. And while I would sincerely love to read an entire book about every character (particularly Samira, oh my gosh),  I never felt cheated by the brevity of their stories. Each character was complete, whole and so unique in how their experiences colored who they turned out to be. Muaddi Darraj makes it so very clear what Arab-Americans (and Palestinians in particular) have been trying to tell us for a long time; they may share many things but they cannot be painted as one. They contain multitudes.

While this book was penned before the most recent atrocities (read: Genocide) in Palestine, it's voice remains the same. I imagine the complexities have only deepened, as has the pain and trauma. While we watch the bombs fall on Gaza in real time, it's sometimes hard to imagine what our Palestinian-American brothers and sisters may be experiencing as they watch from afar. I'm grateful for storytellers in these moments.

And as we know sometimes all we have left is the hope of courage and constancy.