Mornings in Jenin is a novel that will move you to tears until you find yourself hating the world, Arabs, the UN resolutions, the peace makings that never bring peace. I have never been moved this much since the time I read my favorite book. And I’ve never felt a novel so real as this one, I wanted the characters to be real just so I could hate myself even more.
Abulhawa’s heartbreaking plot is as real as Palestine. When I told Mom that it’s fiction, she really wondered why I cried so much, not knowing that I wept for Palestine, not for the novel.
Plot and flow of events: I love the way the author made it to all three generations in the novel while war was the only constant, common, thing between the three of them (Reminds me of Radwa Ashour’s Trilogy). The flow of the chapters was almost perfect and you could actually finish the novel in no time. One of the things I really loved about it. Not many novels tug me into reading them that much.
Language and poetry: Abulhawa’s language was quite simple and appropriate, especially with adding the Arabic words to make you live the novel more.
One of the major things I liked in this novel was how she used poems of Darweesh and Gibran and how they were fit in their place just perfectly. How she also used Fayrouz’s Zahrat Al Madaaen. I used to listen to this song in the days of the Intifada, it made me reminisce many things back then.
The ending: Some people argued that the ending wasn’t reasonable. I, on the other hand, loved it, despite the fact that I was torn apart by the last words.
Quotes:
“Strange, she thought, the things you think about in the district between life and death”
“Until there was nothing but moonlight to sweep”
“Love cannot reconcile with deception”
“Always is a good word to believe in”
“They murdered you and buried you in their headlines, Mother”
“For I’ll keep my humanity, though I did not keep my promises … and Love shall not be wrested from my veins”
Prepare a tissue while reading this novel. Or make sure there's someone's shoulder beside you.
Noor gave me hers. Thank you Noor!
