"A courageous memoir of exile over generations"—The Bookseller
“Mai Serhan's writing is unique, sincere, dark, funny and cuttingly tragic. Her memoir will stay with me for a long time. There are facets of Palestinian-ness — if you can define it as such a thing — that are so clearly identifiable to me and yet so rare to see in literature.”—Selma Dabbagh, author of Out of It
“To accompany Mai Serhan across the times and spaces of injury and dispossession, to bear the pain of limbs and land lost, to weather the impossibility of return, to excavate the depths of all that we have and all that we have lost, is a salve on the open wound of what it means to be Palestinian. This brave and beautiful book is a gift and an invitation, to remember, to create, to persist, and most of all to love.”—Sherene Seikaly, author of Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy In Mandate Palestine
"It is profoundly moving to read this intimate narrative, one thread in the vast tapestry of Palestine’s history. Told through the eyes of a second-generation Palestinian in the diaspora—those who inherit exile not through direct memory, but through its enduring aftermath. Though their Nakba may differ in form from that of their parents, its imprint is no less profound."—Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, author of You Can Be The Last Leaf
“Weaving together themes of sickness, statelessness, and intergenerational trauma with poignant, understated humor and grace, Serhan’s story moves through pre-1948 Palestine, modern day Cairo, and China at the brink of globalization. At each point, she navigates a world fraught with heartbreak, loss, and the innate human drive to hold onto our families, even long after they’ve fallen apart.”—Najla Said, author of Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family