Through my contribution to the anthology We Wrote in Symbols I was delighted to come across fellow author khuld khamis and discover her novel Haifa Fragments. I purchased a pre-loved copy as I was desperate to get my hands on one, but you can still purchase copies from her Australian publishers @spinifexpress.

Maisoon is a tradition-defying Palestinian Christian woman who lives in her own apartment in Haifa, and is on her way to becoming a successful jewellery designer. Her father Majid disapproves of her relationship with Muslim Ziyad, and Maisoon just can’t understand her father nor her lover s’ apathy for the atrocities happening to fellow Palestinians. As residents in Israel, they believe they should just get on with their lives while Maisoon is passionate about helping her people in whatever capacity she can. When she crosses paths and becomes close to Shahd, a young woman living in a refugee camp, Maisoon becomes even more involved in her people’s plight, causing tension with both Ziyad and her father. Trying to balance all these relationships, Maisoon finds that she needs to forge a life path that is true to herself. In a quest to better understand her father, Maisoon works hard to piece the fragments of his history together.

An exquisitely written novel, full of imagery that will give you a glimpse of Haifa and the surrounding areas that were once inhabited by Palestinian families until they were forcibly displaced. I thoroughly enjoyed Maisoon’s complicated but evolving relationship with her father. khamis did a wonderful job of highlighting the differences in everyday life for Palestinians living in Israel and those living in the refugee camps.