Adania Shibli’s haunting meditation on war, violence and memory, which cuts to the heart of the Palestinian experience of dispossession. Translated by Elisabeth Jaquette.

In the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, Israeli soldiers rape a young Palestinian woman they find in the Negev desert, killing her and burying her in the sand. In the near-present day, a young woman in Ramallah embarks on a journey of discovery into the events surrounding that rape and murder. She becomes fascinated by it to the point of obsession, not only because of its gruesome nature but also because it happened to take place 25 years to the day before she was born.

Longlisted
The 2021 International Booker Prize
Published by
Fitzcarraldo Editions
Publication date
Adania Shibli

Adania Shibli

About the Author

Adania Shibli was born in Palestine in 1974. Her first two novels appeared in English as Touch and We Are All Equally Far from Love.
More about Adania Shibli
Elisabeth Jaquette

Elisabeth Jaquette

About the Translator

Elisabeth Jaquette is an award-winning translator from Arabic.
More about Elisabeth Jaquette