Mornings in Jenin
In 1948, the Abulheja family is driven from the olive-farming village of Ein Hod by the newly declared state of Israel and herded into the Jenin refugee camp, where canvas tents harden into a permanent exile. Over the decades that follow, four generations live, love, and grieve in the shadow of an unending conflict.
At the novel's heart is Amal, a bright, book-loving girl born in the camp, whose life carries her from Jenin to America and back again. Around her turns the fate of her family — including two brothers whose paths could not be more different: one drawn into armed resistance, the other lost in infancy and raised on the other side of the divide.
Susan Abulhawa's sweeping debut is an intimate family saga set against one of the twentieth century's most intractable tragedies. A story of displacement, love, and endurance, Mornings in Jenin gives a deeply human face to Palestinian history across generations.
A sensitive, bookish girl born in the Jenin camp, whose life spans Palestine and America.
Amal's older brother, drawn toward armed resistance.
Amal's gentle, scholarly father.