Have you read Against the Loveless World? Who was your favorite character and why was it Sitti Wasfiyeh? Nahr's grandmother started out so abrasive, an old woman who is critical and insulting, rude and never satisfied. The way her daughter-in-law and granddaughter handle her diffuses her into a lovable old woman who expresses her affection in convoluted ways.

And that's pretty much how Susan Abulhawa tell this story. Her narrative delves into rough terrain. Nahr is a Palestinian from Kuwait telling us her tale from an Israeli prison. The abuses she and her people suffer are unconscionable and pervasive. Her fight to survive is unrelenting. And sitting underneath all that is a gorgeous and intimate human story of hope and connection.

This sublimely written tale delves into occupation, colonization, displacement, and terrorism. These are polarizing topics to discuss, yet conditions nearly every human alive has experienced from one side or the other.

I am also currently reading a book on Harriet Tubman, whose name is mentioned in Abulhawa's narrative, referenced as an ordinary woman who was forced to become extraordinary to survive. Today Harriet Tubman is a lauded freedom fighter. In 1850, she was the resistance.

I am walking away from this book even more confused as to why some human life holds higher value than others.