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Good Intentions Collection #5
Mother Country
A young Palestinian American woman comes to terms with the lessons imparted by her mother in an evocative story about sacrifice, resilience, and reinvention by the New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man.
A daughter and mother: two women miles, years, and dreams apart. One defies traditions and expectations. The other conforms to them, even in a new land. Their emotional distance grows while the daughter, now a wife and mother herself, comes to better understand the woman she’s become and why, as she ruminates on inherited trauma, the need to forgive, and the lengths she’ll go to free herself from the past.
Etaf Rum’s Mother Country is part of Good Intentions, a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.
A daughter and mother: two women miles, years, and dreams apart. One defies traditions and expectations. The other conforms to them, even in a new land. Their emotional distance grows while the daughter, now a wife and mother herself, comes to better understand the woman she’s become and why, as she ruminates on inherited trauma, the need to forgive, and the lengths she’ll go to free herself from the past.
Etaf Rum’s Mother Country is part of Good Intentions, a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.
2 pages, Audible Audio
Published April 27, 2023
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November 30, 2024
‘Being a woman in the greatest curse,’ a woman recalls her mother telling her at the start of Etaf Rum’s Mother Country, ‘one day you will understand what I mean.’ A heartbreaking yet harrowing look at generational trauma and the struggles to escape from stifling traditions, Rum weaves the story of a second-generation Palestinian-American woman trying to assert herself while being packaged into a traditional life of marriage and motherhood told through a letter written to the mother she has long resented. While her attempts at discovering ‘how to live an authentic, fulfilling life’ collide against cultural and expectations of gender and responsibility, our narrator still feels she must find a sense of self beyond following in her mother’s footsteps ‘trying not to pass my pain along’ and break the cycle of trauma. A gorgeously written story, Mother Country is a stirring look at family and gendered expectations that reaches out a comforting embrace to both an understanding of the past and emboldening of the future.
‘I would do important work, create something meaningful. I would make a difference in this dark, lonely world.
How? I wasn’t sure.
Why? Because I wanted the pain to mean something.’
First off, thank you to Liv ❁ and her wonderful review for recommending this one to me. Etaf Rum’s stories often focus on the experience of diaspora while centering the struggles of women and Mother Country is a swift yet devastating statement that the lingering traditional gender role and expectations in the present make women feel they must remain subdued and live their life as in sacrifice everyone else in their families. Our unnamed narrator spends the duration of the story trying to grapple with the pain of her past and a disdain for a mother that allowed it to happen. ‘You make it sound like you were tortured, like I was some sort of monster,’ her mother counters, showing that from her perspective she ‘gave you everything I had, sacrificed my life for you.’ Written in retrospect, we trace the course of the narrator’s deeper understanding into the suffering of her mother in an attempt to make peace with her memory but also to ‘unlearn all the shame’ and break the mold towards a brighter future for her own daughter.
Rejecting tradition, she wishes to chart her own path and in the solitude she feels confined into the role of mother and homemaker. Having departed from tradition, she has no role model herself in her life and finds her actions raise alarm in others. Even her success is met with a coldness from her mother for being outside expectations and she sees no map to self-actualization in her elders around her, ‘no example of what it would look like for a woman to be free.’ We see how not only can tradition be stifling, but that only looking towards the past means ideas of the future will be dominated by those of the past.
Without guidance in her own life, I appreciate how she looks to the words of writers for guidance. As someone who also finds ‘books had become my closest friends,’ in times of great uncertainty or loneliness, this hit hard. In her quest to discover a way of living that honors the words ‘to thine own self be true’ from William Shakespeare, the narrator dives into the revelations she discovers in writers like Rainer Maria Rilke, Brené Brown, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christopher Ryan or René Descartes among others. I really felt for her, however, when she was told 'those books have gone to your head' and her frustrations at understanding how harmful the world can feel are dismissed.
‘What do you think and feel?’
That we are doing this all wrong.
While we see her plight to escape from a life where her worth is entirely made up of serving family—’you’re useless to them unless you provide a son’ he own mother tells her—Rum also touches on how traditional gender roles can be harmful to men as well. Her husband, for instance, holds a lot of resentment towards his father who only offered him one path in life to take over running the family gas station and a life of education or outside the station was not permitted. The idea of a future without oppressive boundaries of expectations, however, also causes her to reassess her hatred for her mother and better understand the forces that cornered her into the life she led.
‘Why am I writing to you now. To tell you that I understand. To say I'm sorry, to finally forgive you, to ask if you can forgive me.'
This has been my first foray into the work of Etaf Rum but certainly won’t be my last. Rum writes with such grace and poise, examining difficult and painful subjects in ways that unpack a lot of emotion and trauma but orchestrates the telling in a way that offers hope, understanding, and a will to break the cycle. Mother Country also reminds us that, though the past was difficult and even the narrator’s mother expresses that her hard life still seemed better than the refugee camps they fled in Palestine, that hardships of the past do not mean they should be perpetuated into the future. That we should look forward to find ways to unlearn the shame, to do better for the next generation, to find ways to offer a better freedom and brighter future. A lovely little read that delivers an incredible emotional blow.
4.5/5
‘I wish I had understood what you endured back then, how much you sacrificed. I wish I had learned to reserve judgement. Dear Mama, I begin. Maybe this way I can reach you at last.’
‘I would do important work, create something meaningful. I would make a difference in this dark, lonely world.
How? I wasn’t sure.
Why? Because I wanted the pain to mean something.’
First off, thank you to Liv ❁ and her wonderful review for recommending this one to me. Etaf Rum’s stories often focus on the experience of diaspora while centering the struggles of women and Mother Country is a swift yet devastating statement that the lingering traditional gender role and expectations in the present make women feel they must remain subdued and live their life as in sacrifice everyone else in their families. Our unnamed narrator spends the duration of the story trying to grapple with the pain of her past and a disdain for a mother that allowed it to happen. ‘You make it sound like you were tortured, like I was some sort of monster,’ her mother counters, showing that from her perspective she ‘gave you everything I had, sacrificed my life for you.’ Written in retrospect, we trace the course of the narrator’s deeper understanding into the suffering of her mother in an attempt to make peace with her memory but also to ‘unlearn all the shame’ and break the mold towards a brighter future for her own daughter.
‘My plan was to be the best mother I could be. That meant being the opposite of you. I was going to be present and tender and not sad all the time. I was going to set a good example of what it meant to be a woman. Less powerless, more hope. More fuck off. The problem was, I didn’t know how.’
Rejecting tradition, she wishes to chart her own path and in the solitude she feels confined into the role of mother and homemaker. Having departed from tradition, she has no role model herself in her life and finds her actions raise alarm in others. Even her success is met with a coldness from her mother for being outside expectations and she sees no map to self-actualization in her elders around her, ‘no example of what it would look like for a woman to be free.’ We see how not only can tradition be stifling, but that only looking towards the past means ideas of the future will be dominated by those of the past.
‘Growing up, the path of my future was already mapped out for me. All I had to do was look around…domesticated lives governed by marriage and motherhood. No one I knew dared defy tradition; I had no example of what it would look like for a woman to be free.’
Without guidance in her own life, I appreciate how she looks to the words of writers for guidance. As someone who also finds ‘books had become my closest friends,’ in times of great uncertainty or loneliness, this hit hard. In her quest to discover a way of living that honors the words ‘to thine own self be true’ from William Shakespeare, the narrator dives into the revelations she discovers in writers like Rainer Maria Rilke, Brené Brown, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christopher Ryan or René Descartes among others. I really felt for her, however, when she was told 'those books have gone to your head' and her frustrations at understanding how harmful the world can feel are dismissed.
‘What do you think and feel?’
That we are doing this all wrong.
While we see her plight to escape from a life where her worth is entirely made up of serving family—’you’re useless to them unless you provide a son’ he own mother tells her—Rum also touches on how traditional gender roles can be harmful to men as well. Her husband, for instance, holds a lot of resentment towards his father who only offered him one path in life to take over running the family gas station and a life of education or outside the station was not permitted. The idea of a future without oppressive boundaries of expectations, however, also causes her to reassess her hatred for her mother and better understand the forces that cornered her into the life she led.
‘Why am I writing to you now. To tell you that I understand. To say I'm sorry, to finally forgive you, to ask if you can forgive me.'
This has been my first foray into the work of Etaf Rum but certainly won’t be my last. Rum writes with such grace and poise, examining difficult and painful subjects in ways that unpack a lot of emotion and trauma but orchestrates the telling in a way that offers hope, understanding, and a will to break the cycle. Mother Country also reminds us that, though the past was difficult and even the narrator’s mother expresses that her hard life still seemed better than the refugee camps they fled in Palestine, that hardships of the past do not mean they should be perpetuated into the future. That we should look forward to find ways to unlearn the shame, to do better for the next generation, to find ways to offer a better freedom and brighter future. A lovely little read that delivers an incredible emotional blow.
4.5/5
‘I wish I had understood what you endured back then, how much you sacrificed. I wish I had learned to reserve judgement. Dear Mama, I begin. Maybe this way I can reach you at last.’
March 22, 2025
3.5 stars
This story is told by the main character. It revolves around her memories and her feelings about the present in which the figure of her mother always looms large. Her family is refugees from Palestine. Her mother makes her daughter understand that she is lucky to have the life she has, the husband she was given, and the opportunity to get an education. Her mother was never fortunate enough to be able to study.
We follow the central character as she tries to come to terms with her past and not repeat the mistakes her mother made with her children.
This is a story about motherhood, asking "What it is to be a mother?"
This is a story about fear, memory, the present transcended by the past, and personal growth.
To become a better parent to her children than her mother has ever been to her, the heroine wants to expand her mind and get in touch with her feelings.
She is afraid of failing her children and her dreams. By receiving education, she might be able to change her life. She has to determine whether she has the mettle to go against tradition.
All in all, this was a good short story. It does not take much time to read, and many might find it touching. But maybe it was too short for me to connect with the story and the protagonist. In the end, I felt neutral about this read.
The message it sends - you can change your life no matter what the circumstances, - albeit inspiring, did not strike me as very convincing the way the author wrote it. But I like the sense of hope in this read.
This story is told by the main character. It revolves around her memories and her feelings about the present in which the figure of her mother always looms large. Her family is refugees from Palestine. Her mother makes her daughter understand that she is lucky to have the life she has, the husband she was given, and the opportunity to get an education. Her mother was never fortunate enough to be able to study.
We follow the central character as she tries to come to terms with her past and not repeat the mistakes her mother made with her children.
This is a story about motherhood, asking "What it is to be a mother?"
This is a story about fear, memory, the present transcended by the past, and personal growth.
To become a better parent to her children than her mother has ever been to her, the heroine wants to expand her mind and get in touch with her feelings.
She is afraid of failing her children and her dreams. By receiving education, she might be able to change her life. She has to determine whether she has the mettle to go against tradition.
All in all, this was a good short story. It does not take much time to read, and many might find it touching. But maybe it was too short for me to connect with the story and the protagonist. In the end, I felt neutral about this read.
The message it sends - you can change your life no matter what the circumstances, - albeit inspiring, did not strike me as very convincing the way the author wrote it. But I like the sense of hope in this read.
July 31, 2024
In a Nutshell: A thought-provoking short story about the insecurities and resilience of motherhood. The epistolary format adds to the experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
This is the fifth standalone story in the 'Good Intentions’ series, described on Amazon as “a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood.”
The synopsis indicates clearly that this story is going to be introspective, depicting the struggling emotions as well as the resilience of women caught in tricky domestic situations. The approach of presenting this story as a letter addressed to the mother is a clever one, as we feel like we get an inside view of the pain of the narrator as well her conflicting feelings over her mother’s statements.
The story addresses quite a few strong themes, including toxic parenting, intergenerational trauma, the desperate need for parental approval, mental health issues, and women’s liberation from restrictive traditions. It also shows how women overthink matters far more than men, and in the process hurt themselves more. The male-dominant Palestinian culture, which was so visible in this author’s ‘A Woman is No Man’, comes out clearly in this story as well.
There are many thought-provoking quotes in the book, some being lines by famed philosophers, and some being original thoughts within the story. One of my favourites is this: “Most of all, I wanted to unlearn all the shame. I wanted to learn how to love and honor myself so I could know how to love and honor my children.”
Within just 52 pages, Rum manages to convey convincingly a women’s emotional upheavals without even letting us know her identity. This lack of a name makes her experience feel personal as well as universal.
The ending is somewhat bittersweet, though I suppose it works decently for the story, culminating at a point of hope and dreams than at further perpetuating the negativities onto the next generation. But something about the ending doesn’t sit right by me. I am not a fan of the narrator’s decision. Not wanting to sacrifice any more in a marriage doesn’t mean that one ought to be totally selfish. Surely there is a middle-ground! I didn’t find that particular decision justified in the circumstances. A small complaint for an otherwise great short fiction.
Recommended to short story fans who enjoy culturally-inclusive writing.
4 stars.
This standalone story is a part of the ‘Good Intentions’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Just one more story to go in this series. Will it be a 5 star? Time will tell!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Our unnamed narrator is a daughter, living miles away from the mother who has taught her everything she knows, right from basic chores such as cooking and cleaning to behavioural patterns such as staying quiet when your husband hits you and sacrificing your needs for the sake of your family’s. After marriage, the daughter begins to wonder if this is all there is to life. And if she can aim for more. As she writes to her mother about her thoughts over the years, she comes to understand intergenerational trauma, and how someone has to take a step to break the vicious cycle of quiet acceptance.
The story is written in the first-person perspective of the daughter, as a letter addressed to her mother.
This is the fifth standalone story in the 'Good Intentions’ series, described on Amazon as “a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood.”
The synopsis indicates clearly that this story is going to be introspective, depicting the struggling emotions as well as the resilience of women caught in tricky domestic situations. The approach of presenting this story as a letter addressed to the mother is a clever one, as we feel like we get an inside view of the pain of the narrator as well her conflicting feelings over her mother’s statements.
The story addresses quite a few strong themes, including toxic parenting, intergenerational trauma, the desperate need for parental approval, mental health issues, and women’s liberation from restrictive traditions. It also shows how women overthink matters far more than men, and in the process hurt themselves more. The male-dominant Palestinian culture, which was so visible in this author’s ‘A Woman is No Man’, comes out clearly in this story as well.
There are many thought-provoking quotes in the book, some being lines by famed philosophers, and some being original thoughts within the story. One of my favourites is this: “Most of all, I wanted to unlearn all the shame. I wanted to learn how to love and honor myself so I could know how to love and honor my children.”
Within just 52 pages, Rum manages to convey convincingly a women’s emotional upheavals without even letting us know her identity. This lack of a name makes her experience feel personal as well as universal.
The ending is somewhat bittersweet, though I suppose it works decently for the story, culminating at a point of hope and dreams than at further perpetuating the negativities onto the next generation. But something about the ending doesn’t sit right by me. I am not a fan of the narrator’s decision. Not wanting to sacrifice any more in a marriage doesn’t mean that one ought to be totally selfish. Surely there is a middle-ground! I didn’t find that particular decision justified in the circumstances. A small complaint for an otherwise great short fiction.
Recommended to short story fans who enjoy culturally-inclusive writing.
4 stars.
This standalone story is a part of the ‘Good Intentions’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Just one more story to go in this series. Will it be a 5 star? Time will tell!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
August 2, 2024
2.8 "initially breathtaking moving into American expected finales" stars !!
A warm thank you to Rosh whose most helpful review compelled me to add and read immediately !
My experience of this book is more mixed than her own.
The first part of this longish short story had me in its emotional grip with a family story of complicated mother daughter relationships, intergenerational trauma and Palestinian authenticity. I felt submerged in this young woman's confusion, sadness and longing as she felt compelled to live for other people and adhere to strict patriarchal rules and roles while desiring a close loving relationship with her mother. This was so bloody beautiful and true ! Easily 4.5 quality.
The second third as she becomes a wife and mother and struggles with anxiety and postpartum depression as well as a search for meaning and self was also mostly excellent. HOWEVER, the references to Western pop psychology/philosophy/literature felt both trite and superficial and took away from what could have been a deeper exploration of Arabic female identity and struggle.
The last third was a complete wash for me.....an expected Hollywood ending that felt very rushed, convenient and rather blah.....Oprah and Reese will be cheering as I grimace....
April 30, 2023
A brilliant story.. how daughters lives are influenced by their mothers traumas and feelings.
Powerful and heartbreaking story.
By the author of A Woman is No Man.
A short story from a new collection on Amazon Prime for kindle and audio download called Good Intentions… several short stories by accomplished authors.
Powerful and heartbreaking story.
By the author of A Woman is No Man.
A short story from a new collection on Amazon Prime for kindle and audio download called Good Intentions… several short stories by accomplished authors.
November 30, 2023
"How dreams are born."
Reconciling cultural and generational changes in the present with the past and future. Dreams are like shoes. One size doesn't fit all.
Reconciling cultural and generational changes in the present with the past and future. Dreams are like shoes. One size doesn't fit all.
August 17, 2024
“I wish I had understood what you endured back then, how much you sacrificed. I wish I had learned to reserve judgement. Dear Mama, I begin. Maybe this way I can reach you at last.”
This short story is a heartbreaking letter to our second-generation Palestinian-American immigrant main character’s estranged mother. Rum does an excellent job showing this war that our main character faces between the expectations that come with growing up in as a second-generation immigrant in a religious, conservative household and her dreams that don’t necessarily align with the lifestyle everyone wants for her.
“What do you mean, all that had been done? I can hear you say now, your voice trembling. You make it sound like you were tortured, like I was some sort of monster. I gave you everything I had, sacrificed my life for you.”
A lot of this letter is about the trauma that came from her upbringing, specifically from her mother, but a lot of it also shows this understanding and forgiveness she feels towards her mother. While she is critical of her mother, she also understands her and recognizes that her mother was killing herself to give her children the best life she thought she could have. Tears were shed as I listened to our main character reminisce on her relationship with her mother and finally find it in her to forgive and understand her while still understanding the trauma that came from her.
“I had ideas about motherhood. Mostly based on my relationship with you. I was afraid I would hurt my little girl, that I wouldn’t be good enough for her. I was afraid she would see all the ugliness you saw in me. But what if I was better? What if I did things differently?”
A major focus of this book is generational trauma, specifically in immigrant families. Rum does a fantastic job portraying the cycle of generational trauma and how hard it is to break that cycle, no matter how hard you try. The glimpses we get of the main character with her daughter are not always pretty. They’re raw and highlight the fears that have been hammered into our main character’s heart. What if she turns out like her mother? What if her mother was right and her daughter hates her? While the end is hopeful, it is not complete, showing the amount of work you have to keep putting in to break that cycle.
“I want to continue, want to shed my guilt and let go of old grievances, want to bridge the miles and years between us. But my flight is boarding now and I have to go.”
I’ve been looking to pick up some of Etaf Rum’s works for a while now, so when I saw this 50 page novella from Amazon’s “Good Intentions” collection I had to grab it. This sad yet hopeful look at motherhood made me increasingly excited to check out Etaf Rum’s full length works and to continue this collection of short stories.
This short story is a heartbreaking letter to our second-generation Palestinian-American immigrant main character’s estranged mother. Rum does an excellent job showing this war that our main character faces between the expectations that come with growing up in as a second-generation immigrant in a religious, conservative household and her dreams that don’t necessarily align with the lifestyle everyone wants for her.
“What do you mean, all that had been done? I can hear you say now, your voice trembling. You make it sound like you were tortured, like I was some sort of monster. I gave you everything I had, sacrificed my life for you.”
A lot of this letter is about the trauma that came from her upbringing, specifically from her mother, but a lot of it also shows this understanding and forgiveness she feels towards her mother. While she is critical of her mother, she also understands her and recognizes that her mother was killing herself to give her children the best life she thought she could have. Tears were shed as I listened to our main character reminisce on her relationship with her mother and finally find it in her to forgive and understand her while still understanding the trauma that came from her.
“I had ideas about motherhood. Mostly based on my relationship with you. I was afraid I would hurt my little girl, that I wouldn’t be good enough for her. I was afraid she would see all the ugliness you saw in me. But what if I was better? What if I did things differently?”
A major focus of this book is generational trauma, specifically in immigrant families. Rum does a fantastic job portraying the cycle of generational trauma and how hard it is to break that cycle, no matter how hard you try. The glimpses we get of the main character with her daughter are not always pretty. They’re raw and highlight the fears that have been hammered into our main character’s heart. What if she turns out like her mother? What if her mother was right and her daughter hates her? While the end is hopeful, it is not complete, showing the amount of work you have to keep putting in to break that cycle.
“I want to continue, want to shed my guilt and let go of old grievances, want to bridge the miles and years between us. But my flight is boarding now and I have to go.”
I’ve been looking to pick up some of Etaf Rum’s works for a while now, so when I saw this 50 page novella from Amazon’s “Good Intentions” collection I had to grab it. This sad yet hopeful look at motherhood made me increasingly excited to check out Etaf Rum’s full length works and to continue this collection of short stories.
October 27, 2023
I don't know how to review this book.
The only thing I can say is that this book made me feel seen in a way that no book has ever done before. The way the author talked about her relationship with her mother touched me very deeply.
Sometimes you just read a book that puts down all your feelings and fears in a way that even you wouldn't have been able to voice. And this was one of those books for me.
The only thing I can say is that this book made me feel seen in a way that no book has ever done before. The way the author talked about her relationship with her mother touched me very deeply.
Sometimes you just read a book that puts down all your feelings and fears in a way that even you wouldn't have been able to voice. And this was one of those books for me.
May 4, 2023
This book is about a woman who lived an unhappy childhood because of her mother. Her mom had been extremely unhappy and as a result so was her daughter. The daughter grew up and married. She decided she wanted more out of life. She unsuccessfully tried to talk to her husband, mother and mother in law numerous times. They didn’t understand. What happens to this desperate woman now?
March 5, 2024
Περιμένω να παραλάβω τον καφέ μου όσο με δυσκολία κρατάω τα δάκρυα μου. Τελικά όλα είναι μια επιστροφή προς τα πίσω, προς τη μαμά πατρίδα, προς τη μαμά, προς την πατρίδα.
Ελάχιστοι καταφέρνουν να κάνουν αυτό το ταξίδι επιτυχώς. Οι περισσότεροι χάνουμε τον δρόμο πριν καν ξεκινήσουμε.
Ελάχιστοι καταφέρνουν να κάνουν αυτό το ταξίδι επιτυχώς. Οι περισσότεροι χάνουμε τον δρόμο πριν καν ξεκινήσουμε.
May 6, 2024
Wow. This story is not incredible because it is true, but because it is beautifully written, and the story brought me quickly out of my reading slump.
This series is an excellent collection, but this one blew me away.
This series is an excellent collection, but this one blew me away.
November 1, 2023
I would read the full length novel version of this but I’m not sure I’d survive it.
December 10, 2023
A story of motherhood and disconnection. Unfortunately not my favourite of this very good series.
Kindle Unlimited- Good Intentions series
Kindle Unlimited- Good Intentions series
February 16, 2024
i loved this
April 29, 2023
Mothers and daughters are so completely intertwined. Are we really destined to become our mothers? They will always exert an influence on our lives. We will recognize them in us and us in them. Eventually, we figure it out and make peace with our mothers and with ourselves.
October 22, 2023
A raw, thought-provoking story by a Palestinian author.
February 12, 2025
Rating: ⭐ 4/5
𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 is a 52-page novella written in the epistolary format, where the story is told primarily through some form of written communication between the characters.
The narrative follows a second-generation Palestinian-American woman, who yearns to live authentically while dealing with insecurities, generational trauma, as well as gender roles and cultural expectations. The story is told through a letter that the unnamed narrator writes to her mother, whom she resents.
The narrator grapples with her past and does not want to repeat the mistakes of her mother. Instead, she wants to unlearn all the shame and set the right example for her own children. Can she escape from the oppressive boundaries of expectations? Read the novella to find out!
Have you ever read something that shattered your heart, yet somehow left you feeling whole? That's exactly what reading 𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 did to me. Rum's words flow effortlessly like a river, and the writing is absolutely gorgeous—elegant yet thought-provoking.
Reading this story made me pause and reflect... The ending is bittersweet and left me feeling quite emotional and heartbroken. This was my time reading Etaf Rum, but it definitely won't be my last. Highly recommend!
𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 is a 52-page novella written in the epistolary format, where the story is told primarily through some form of written communication between the characters.
The narrative follows a second-generation Palestinian-American woman, who yearns to live authentically while dealing with insecurities, generational trauma, as well as gender roles and cultural expectations. The story is told through a letter that the unnamed narrator writes to her mother, whom she resents.
The narrator grapples with her past and does not want to repeat the mistakes of her mother. Instead, she wants to unlearn all the shame and set the right example for her own children. Can she escape from the oppressive boundaries of expectations? Read the novella to find out!
Have you ever read something that shattered your heart, yet somehow left you feeling whole? That's exactly what reading 𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 did to me. Rum's words flow effortlessly like a river, and the writing is absolutely gorgeous—elegant yet thought-provoking.
Reading this story made me pause and reflect... The ending is bittersweet and left me feeling quite emotional and heartbroken. This was my time reading Etaf Rum, but it definitely won't be my last. Highly recommend!
December 30, 2024
I can’t stop crying because some parts of the story hit close to home for me, which makes it feel so personal. I know it’s wrong, but from my perspective, she’s a bit selfish and somewhat unempathetic toward her mother. there are so many things she could’ve done better for her mom who has endured so much pain, but at the same time, I know that she’s doing the right thing, finding herself so she can feel fulfilled. I really love this book.
A prayer for all Palestinians and everyone who’s going through tough times right now, may their struggles come to an end soon, and may they find peace and relief. May Allah’s protection and mercy be with us all, today and always. 🍉❤️
A prayer for all Palestinians and everyone who’s going through tough times right now, may their struggles come to an end soon, and may they find peace and relief. May Allah’s protection and mercy be with us all, today and always. 🍉❤️
February 1, 2024
“i know, i know. you endured so much, and so have i, but now i want to live.”
—five stars.
the way someone can convey so much in so few pages... no words. beautiful. my first five stars of the year, and an extremely deserving one at that. cannot recommend enough (and shoutout to the tiktok that put me on this book during strike week.)
—five stars.
the way someone can convey so much in so few pages... no words. beautiful. my first five stars of the year, and an extremely deserving one at that. cannot recommend enough (and shoutout to the tiktok that put me on this book during strike week.)
December 24, 2024
4*
Although I can’t to relate to this story it was still powerful enough to move me. Short but impactful and in times like these it is good to put in effort to read books by Palestinian authors 🇵🇸
Although I can’t to relate to this story it was still powerful enough to move me. Short but impactful and in times like these it is good to put in effort to read books by Palestinian authors 🇵🇸
March 12, 2024
Being a woman is the greatest curse
The main character, who remains nameless during the story, comes to terms with her toxic, complicated relationship with her mother. We go through different milestones and every day to day stuff of the MC’s life and how her mother’s relationship significantly affected her, her decisions and they way she views herself. She battles with her identity and self-fulfillment and how they're supposed to look like according to society and how she truly wants them to be.
This is a beautiful and raw story about acknowledging and finally breaking generational curses and trauma despite how difficult it is. The MC is trying not to pass her pain, resentment and rage to her daughter the way her mother passed them to her. It’s an endless cycle of wandering and never finding the answer until you have the courage to search and to break it. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
I feel like the MC remained nameless because she could be me, you, any woman there ever was or will be. Women's pain and rage are universal.
I'm trying not to pass my pain along to you.
The main character, who remains nameless during the story, comes to terms with her toxic, complicated relationship with her mother. We go through different milestones and every day to day stuff of the MC’s life and how her mother’s relationship significantly affected her, her decisions and they way she views herself. She battles with her identity and self-fulfillment and how they're supposed to look like according to society and how she truly wants them to be.
This is a beautiful and raw story about acknowledging and finally breaking generational curses and trauma despite how difficult it is. The MC is trying not to pass her pain, resentment and rage to her daughter the way her mother passed them to her. It’s an endless cycle of wandering and never finding the answer until you have the courage to search and to break it. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
I feel like the MC remained nameless because she could be me, you, any woman there ever was or will be. Women's pain and rage are universal.
I'm trying not to pass my pain along to you.
December 2, 2024
Short Brilliant story. Emotional and reflective about gender and society.
March 21, 2024
I am here bawling my eyes out at 11:30 pm.
This book touched me in ways I cannot even explain, a topic Etaf goes into much depth about. Quoting Kafka, about how this feeling is bone deep and inexplicable with words.
The shared reality of Middle Eastern women, mothers, daughters is a sad one. The generational trauma, resentment, guilt, understanding, the longing for something better.
This book was beautiful, powerful, emotional, raw, and real. The way this broke me, yet healed me at the same time.
This book touched me in ways I cannot even explain, a topic Etaf goes into much depth about. Quoting Kafka, about how this feeling is bone deep and inexplicable with words.
The shared reality of Middle Eastern women, mothers, daughters is a sad one. The generational trauma, resentment, guilt, understanding, the longing for something better.
This book was beautiful, powerful, emotional, raw, and real. The way this broke me, yet healed me at the same time.
April 29, 2023
Strange and disquieting
This story is well written, flows well, and speaks to the heart. The plot is easily followed, the characters are interesting, and the premise is well thought out. I do recommend this short story.
This story is well written, flows well, and speaks to the heart. The plot is easily followed, the characters are interesting, and the premise is well thought out. I do recommend this short story.
May 12, 2023
Great read all about self-love, mental illness and respect for ones self!!
January 30, 2024
This was so raw and honest that I couldn’t possibly rate this lower than a 5. A well deserving story- beautifully and powerfully woven together.
February 5, 2024
mother country is an amazing short story that i truly think everyone should go read.
i loved 'a woman is no man' by this author and while mother country is much shorter, it’s somehow just as impactful. i think any author who can bring such intense emotions out of you in such a short amount of time has immense talent so i hope to see this book talked about as much as it deserves.
the exploration of mother daughter relationships- in both books i've read from etaf rum- was as interesting as it was heart wrenching. this has definitely stayed with me because of that and i expect it will for a very long time.
4.5✩
i loved 'a woman is no man' by this author and while mother country is much shorter, it’s somehow just as impactful. i think any author who can bring such intense emotions out of you in such a short amount of time has immense talent so i hope to see this book talked about as much as it deserves.
the exploration of mother daughter relationships- in both books i've read from etaf rum- was as interesting as it was heart wrenching. this has definitely stayed with me because of that and i expect it will for a very long time.
4.5✩
February 26, 2024
This was a story about finding happiness and meaning, about mental health, about breaking generational trauma, about breaking rules, about being a woman, about being a mother. And it was beautiful.
December 6, 2024
Beautifully written and so, so powerful. A short yet moving piece about motherhood and generational trauma.
March 13, 2025
This short story, part of an amazon series exploring the traumas and connections of motherhood, held me for the brief time it took to read it.
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