Name: Against the Loveless World
ISBN: 9781643587615

Susan Abulhawa

As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she's forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been.

Against the Loveless World

From the internationally bestselling author of the “terrifically affecting” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Mornings in Jenin, a sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties. As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation. Nahr’s subversive humor and moral ambiguity will resonate with fans of My Sister, The Serial Killer, and her dark, contemporary struggle places her as the perfect sister to Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties. Written with Susan Abulhawa’s distinctive “richly detailed, beautiful, and resonant” (Publishers Weekly) prose, this powerful novel presents a searing, darkly funny, and wholly unique portrait of a Palestinian woman who refuses to be a victim.

A Novel

THIS is my kind of literary fiction, this was such a beautiful character study of nahr in the eyes of womanhood and colonialism. i couldnt put this down, i felt the love for palestine in every sentence

i am at a loss of words at how much i loved nahr and everything about this book. this is not just a novel, it's a literary masterpiece, a way of life. it perfectly encapsulates the feelings of hope, despair and unwavering resilience and resistance. the novel's writing style is captivating, authentic, and vivid; all the narrative, plot, story and characters are methodically studied and brought to life; everything, from the slightest characterization to the most significant incident, has depth. i could talk about this for days, months and years (considering how much i loved it). tbh this whole book resonated and changed me so profoundly in ways i thought impossible.

Katelyn B

This novel was beautifully written, true to history, and the struggle of the Palestinian resistance. It was raw and powerful, beautiful and painful all in one. The story was captivating. 5/5

stephanie

(4.75 stars)
Adding this one to my 'favourites' shelf. The narrator was captivating & all the other characters (especially the female characters) were brilliantly written. I actually enjoyed this one a lot more than 'Mornings in Jenin', by the same author - & I really liked 'Mornings in Jenin'! An incredible story of resistance.

Stephanie Ridiculous

This book honestly felt like 2 different books. Prior to arriving in Palestine it felt graphic and crude for the sake of shocking the reader, while after getting to Palestine the story levels out and becomes engaging, although still difficult to read in many ways. The casual use of sexual assault and frequent reference to it is off putting & and I almost quit several times. (Cw: on page rape at least three times.)

In general I appreciated the painting of Palestinian culture and life & was genuinely interested in how it ended. There was a lot of over writing that was cheesy and cliche, though.

Emily Harris

** spoiler alert **
           This was a beautifully written story and captivated me instantly. It follows the life and reflection of Nahr who is in prison (the cube) while she recounts the events in her life that led up to her being there. A few of my favourite quotes:

"My life returns to me in images, smells, and sounds, but never feelings. I feel nothing"

"This moment with a stranger twirling in the gorgeous gown my mother had created should have been kind to share with Mama. My mother was a maker of beauty, a brilliant custodian of culture and history. And I was the ungrateful daughter who had not understood until now"

The love story with Bilal was really well done, and then heartbreaking - but with a sliver of hope at the end that made me wonder if a sequel might happen. I also loved how much description went into setting each scene, she would always describe gatherings with the food they brought for example and it felt so intimate - like the first quote, how her life returns to her in images, smells and sounds.

Stephanie Midolo

This book was a lot to take in. In my undergrad, I focused on Colonial/Post-Colonial literature, but I did not know much about the Palestinian diaspora. Against A Loveless World really brought the experience of Palestinian refugees to light. 

The many-named narrator somehow evokes both empathy and anger. As she tells her story from her jail cell, we get to see the pain of her life, the sacrifices and compromises she makes to give her family a better life. 

The way the story flowed was beautiful and refreshing. The characters were well developed, especially the younger brother, Jehad. I felt a lot while reading this book, which has not happened to me in a long time.

Anooshay Abbasi

I started reading this book last year but left it midway because it got too heavy for me. I picked it up again amidst the Palestinian crisis and oh my God. I wish I could go back in time and read it all over again. What a BEAUTIFUL book.

Suzie

Leila

hanul 

Claire E

Ezza

maría 🪻

Kathrina

Lindsay

Zubaer

Alec Joven

Stelci Rosario

Ricky Burgess

Nahr has been confined to the Cube: nine square metres of glossy grey cinderblock, devoid of time, its patterns of light and dark nothing to do with day and night. Journalists visit her, but get nowhere; because Nahr is not going to share her story with them. The world outside calls Nahr a terrorist, and a whore; some might call her a revolutionary, or a hero. But the truth is, Nahr has always been many things, and had many names. She was named for the river her pregnant mother crossed when she fled from Palestine, but her feckless father called her Yaqoot, Ruby. For a time when she came of age she was Almas, Diamond, a girl who went to hidden parties in Kuwait with powerful men, who sold off parts of herself to keep her family together. She was a girl who learned, early and painfully, that when you are a second class citizen love is a kind of desperation; she learned, above all else, to survive. She was a girl who went to Palestine in the wrong shoes, and without looking for it found what she had always lacked in the basement of a battered beauty parlour: purpose, politics, friends. She found a dark-eyed man called Bilal, who taught her to resist; who tried to save her when it was already too late. Nahr sits in the Cube, and tells her story to Bilal. Bilal, who isn't there; Bilal, who may not even be alive, but who is her only reason to get out.

Against the Loveless World

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