Susan muaddi darraj short stories

Susan Muaddi Darraj began her debut novel Behind You Is the Sea six years ago, as a series of interlinked portraits of daily life among the Palestinian diaspora in Baltimore. The stories that make up the novel are centred on three Palestinian American families who are rooted in a common identity, but whose concerns are at once both deeply personal and universally relatable. Each chapter focuses on a single character as they negotiate political, cultural and intergenerational struggles and the conflicting values of the old and new worlds. At opposing socioeconomic extremes are the shopping mall-owning Walid Ammar and his entitled sons Demetri and Raed, and the Baladi sisters Reema and Maysoon, who live a hand-to-mouth existence. Those in between include feisty lawyer Samira, engaging in multiple private and legal battles, and city cop Marcus Salameh, who is forced to mediate between an ageing father and a rebellious sister, and who is ultimately transformed by a first-ever visit to the West Bank and the prospect of new love.

Given

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