Against the Loveless World: A Novel
Written by Susan Abulhawa
Narrated by Susan Abulhawa
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist
“Susan Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior; she looks into the darkest crevices of lives, conflicts, horrendous injustices, and dares to shine light that can illuminate hidden worlds for us.” —Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
In this “beautiful...urgent” novel (The New York Times), Nahr, a young Palestinian woman, fights for a better life for her family as she travels as a refugee throughout the Middle East.
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.
Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American writer and political activist. She is the author of Mornings in Jenin—translated into thirty languages—and The Blue Between Sky and Water. Born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, she moved to the United States as a teenager, graduated in biomedical science, and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, Abulhawa founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental children’s organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children. She lives in Pennsylvania.
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Reviews for Against the Loveless World
206 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books I ever read, it left me speechless
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow. What a different perspective to be in. Gorgeously written.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautiful and tragic story of the Palestinian / Israeli conflict from the Palestinian perspective.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This novel was hard to read. By the end it was wrapped up beautifully, thank you Susan abulhawa
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this book. Nahr will be with me from now on
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5this is a wonderful book that i think about daily
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely amazing story set in Palestine. All I can say is that this is an absolute must read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stunning and heart wrenching. So pleased how it ended and for the beautiful stories in between.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very powerful, the narration was weak but tolerable for the sake of the novel
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a beautiful and eloquent book. After a long time, I have liked a book this intensely.