Yahya Yakhlif

This is an excellent novel that it is impossible to read without being aware of the current situation in Palestine. The novel is set in 1948 and the Arab-Israeli conflict and is told from a Palestinian perspective.
The novel is set mostly in a small town on the shore of a lake and near the Jordanian border we meet various characters of the town. Different chapters are told from the perspective of different characters so there are a number of stories intertwining. The novel tells the everyday stories sensitively and beautifully and gives a strong sense of the people who love their home town and the loss is deeply felt. As the advancing Jewish army gets closer to the town the tensions rise. Published in 1991, this novel will inevitably have a sense of nostalgia and sadness.
The novel starts on a sleepy afternoon and a bullet-proof vest bought from from a departing British soldier. We also meet a young man who meets a girl in Damascus on his way to fighting for the Arab Liberation Army and an Iraqi who has also come to find. In the Palestinian town we meet many characters including the railway ticket collector, still in his uniform although there are no longer any trains.
The descriptions of the floods of refugees as the Jews advance is very moving and the sense of loss and defeat by the Palestinians, as well as the jubilation when they win a battle.
I found this an absorbing and interesting novel.… (mehr)