After years away from Palestine, actress Sonia returns to visit her sister and takes a role in a West Bank performance of Hamlet, where she must grapple with her delicate relationship with her homeland.
I’ve never read a book set in Palestine, which is why I requested this book on NetGalley. This book came out in 2023, but the intervening years have only made it more important to read.
Hammad does an excellent job of capturing both Sonia’s alienation from and longing for Palestine and her family both, as well as the difficulties of trying to do something so apparently benign as producing a Shakespeare play under the regime. We get both an overview of the situation, as well as the varying experiences of Palestinians living in Palestine and Israel, the daily anxiety and the constant balance between tensions and outright violence. I also appreciated how the author brought Hamlet into the story and discussed the use of art as both a firestarter and a placebo.
Sonia definitely takes a little while to grow on you though – even when recounting traumatic or stressful incidents, it’s hard to tell how she feels. More frustrating, the supporting characters, especially the men, remain vague despite working with Sonia throughout most of the book. She discusses how she likes this man or dislikes that one, but they never really became very distinct as people to me, even the one who becomes a romantic prospect.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
