Behind You Is the Sea, Susan Muaddi Darraj
Behind You Is the Sea, Susan Muaddi Darraj
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Behind You Is the Sea
A Novel

Author: Susan Muaddi Darraj

Narrator: Rasha Zamamiri, Ali Nasser

Unabridged: 6 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperVia

Published: 01/16/2024

Synopsis

2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD FINALISTWashington Post Notable Works of Fiction from 2024 • Booklist Top 10 Debut Novels of 2024 • Ms. Magazine Favorite Books of the Year 2024 • Elle.com The Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024 • The New Yorker Best Books of 2024 • NPR Books We Love 2024 • NPR staffers pick their favorite fiction reads of 2024 • Chicago Public Library Must Read Books of 2024 for Fiction • Kirkus Reviews 20 Early 2024 Books We Love • San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of Winter 2023 • Muslim Girl “12 Palestinian Books that Deserve Your Shelf Space”"A beautiful portrait of a family reaching for their dreams while holding on to their roots."—Publishers Weekly"Each chapter reads like a small masterpiece."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore—from young activists in conflict with their traditional parents to the poor who clean for the rich—lives which intersect across divides of class, generation, and religion.Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America.Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose own family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” their name. Only a trip to Palestine, where Marcus experiences an unexpected and dramatic transformation, can bridge this seemingly unbridgeable divide between the two generations.Behind You Is the Sea faces stereotypes about Palestinian culture head-on and, shifting perspectives to weave a complex social fabric replete with weddings, funerals, broken hearts, and devastating secrets.

About Susan Muaddi Darraj

Susan Muaddi Darraj is the author of American Book Award–winner A Curious Land and was a finalist for a Palestine Book Award. A United States Artists’ Ford Fellow and past winner of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Independent Artist Award, she is also the author of Farah Rocks, the first children’s book series to feature a Palestinian American character. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and teaches at Harford Community College and Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by emma on April 02, 2024

at a time when palestinians are being dehumanized by so many, i am grateful for the release of this book, which beautifully shows the opposite to be true. this is a book about complicated people, neither good nor evil, those who are doing their best and those are not and those who may be beginning to......more

Goodreads review by Tim on February 06, 2025

I love this composite novel with interlocking stories! It's currently my favorite short story collection. I can't imagine anything better. All the stories are perfect or close to it. My favorite story is Worry Beads.......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on March 07, 2024

3.5 stars An interconnected set of short stories about Palestinian Americans living in Baltimore, Maryland. The first few stories dragged for me; I didn’t feel like the characters were well-developed or that the stories accomplished an emotional arc by their conclusion. I agree with this review about......more

Goodreads review by Sunny on May 28, 2024

Woven together short stories following Palestinian Americans across different classes, circumstances, and ages, this book highlights so much beauty and love and tragedy in what feels like real people’s families. The cop character and short stories made me uncomfortable, but his point of view and exp......more

Goodreads review by Taufiq on February 01, 2025

Honestly, nothing much to say about this book. Each character has their own story. It suggests a last stand, and the theme of dispersal seems to be eternal. It's hard to imagine this is a book from 2024. The American Dream continues, but it's also still shattering. It's interesting that almost all li......more

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