What do you think?
Rate this book
Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations
From Palestine to Texas in 100 years, this epic family tale follows five generations of Christian women as their family’s intimate dramas—full of hope, fear, grief, and joy— play out against a backdrop of violence that would rip them from their homeland.
Leyla King has been a keeper of family stories since long before she sat down across from her grandmother with a tiny cassette tape recorder. And in this beautifully crafted memoir, she braids matriarchal memory into a vivid saga of love and survival as her ancestors flee war and poverty. From Haifa to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, and finally Texas, Leyla makes global politics deeply personal as family squabbles, ambition, mental illness, romance, and religion shape their immigrant journey. Narrated in immersive, lyrical vignettes, Daughters of Palestine is both an urgent testimony from Palestinian Christians and a timeless story of resilience.
“We start with laughing now. Now, in the comfort of my own home, with steaming cups of tea before us and the promise of the cookies I made yesterday awaiting us in the kitchen, we share these stories, to be recorded and retained and remembered, with joy and thankfulness. But it wasn’t always that way. There was much suffering, too. To get to this place, this moment, with Leylati, there was first pain and heartache and so much loss. . . . We start with laughing now, but before that, first, there was Za’leh.”
Leyla King has been a keeper of family stories since long before she sat down across from her grandmother with a tiny cassette tape recorder. And in this beautifully crafted memoir, she braids matriarchal memory into a vivid saga of love and survival as her ancestors flee war and poverty. From Haifa to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, and finally Texas, Leyla makes global politics deeply personal as family squabbles, ambition, mental illness, romance, and religion shape their immigrant journey. Narrated in immersive, lyrical vignettes, Daughters of Palestine is both an urgent testimony from Palestinian Christians and a timeless story of resilience.
“We start with laughing now. Now, in the comfort of my own home, with steaming cups of tea before us and the promise of the cookies I made yesterday awaiting us in the kitchen, we share these stories, to be recorded and retained and remembered, with joy and thankfulness. But it wasn’t always that way. There was much suffering, too. To get to this place, this moment, with Leylati, there was first pain and heartache and so much loss. . . . We start with laughing now, but before that, first, there was Za’leh.”
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
208 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2025
8 people are currently reading
2872 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 13, 2025
This is a beautifully written story of five generations of women before, during, and after the Nakba brought about by the creation of the state of Israel. So often our history focuses on the “big” events and actors. This is a humanizing narrative of women living through those events, and beyond. History is not abstract. History is manifested in the people who live it. If you struggle to comprehend Palestinians as *people* with a rich culture and history, please read this.
My thanks to Eerdmans publishing for providing me an advance reader copy
My thanks to Eerdmans publishing for providing me an advance reader copy
July 17, 2025
★★★★★ — A deeply moving and important memoir of faith, resilience, and memory
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Daughters of Palestine by Leyla K. King.
This book is a touching and powerful look into a Christian Palestinian family across generations, told with tenderness, empathy, heartbreak, and hope. It centres on three women — Leyla’s great-grandmother Aniiseh, her grandmother Bahi, and Leyla herself — with snippets of her mother’s life threaded through. The result is an intimate and loving tableau of matrilineal memory that spans war, displacement, and survival.
We begin with Aniiseh, whose life in Palestine before the Nakba gives us a glimpse of what was. Most of the memoir, however, is told through Bahi, Leyla’s grandmother. She fled Palestine just weeks before the Nakba, newly married and pregnant. Through her recollections, we experience the trauma of being forced to leave behind everything familiar. From Haifa to Beirut, then Damascus and Kuwait, back to Beirut, and finally, in the midst of a civil war, to the United States. I'm not someone who travels easily or takes change well and imagining how much displacement she and her family had to go through made me feel weary.
There’s something quietly devastating about the fact that this family, whose story still holds so much pain, is one of the “lucky” ones. One that managed to stay together. One that eventually found safety. Reading it, I felt the exhaustion Bahi must have carried: the grief of not having roots, of having to move her children again and again with no guarantee of peace.
And yet, Daughters of Palestine is filled with love. It’s a memory of a people's will to survive, yes, but also of joy and the beauty of familial bonds. I adored the personal anecdotes, especially the one about the family heirloom: a cross passed down between women that, supposedly, helps the wearer find a good husband within a year.
Leyla’s voice is full of reverence for the women who came before her. The writing often reads like a conversation, one passed down between generations.
This is a story of motherhood, sisterhood, and migration. It’s a story of what’s lost, what’s carried forward, and what still endures. It is, above all, a story that deserves to be heard.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Daughters of Palestine by Leyla K. King.
This book is a touching and powerful look into a Christian Palestinian family across generations, told with tenderness, empathy, heartbreak, and hope. It centres on three women — Leyla’s great-grandmother Aniiseh, her grandmother Bahi, and Leyla herself — with snippets of her mother’s life threaded through. The result is an intimate and loving tableau of matrilineal memory that spans war, displacement, and survival.
We begin with Aniiseh, whose life in Palestine before the Nakba gives us a glimpse of what was. Most of the memoir, however, is told through Bahi, Leyla’s grandmother. She fled Palestine just weeks before the Nakba, newly married and pregnant. Through her recollections, we experience the trauma of being forced to leave behind everything familiar. From Haifa to Beirut, then Damascus and Kuwait, back to Beirut, and finally, in the midst of a civil war, to the United States. I'm not someone who travels easily or takes change well and imagining how much displacement she and her family had to go through made me feel weary.
There’s something quietly devastating about the fact that this family, whose story still holds so much pain, is one of the “lucky” ones. One that managed to stay together. One that eventually found safety. Reading it, I felt the exhaustion Bahi must have carried: the grief of not having roots, of having to move her children again and again with no guarantee of peace.
And yet, Daughters of Palestine is filled with love. It’s a memory of a people's will to survive, yes, but also of joy and the beauty of familial bonds. I adored the personal anecdotes, especially the one about the family heirloom: a cross passed down between women that, supposedly, helps the wearer find a good husband within a year.
Leyla’s voice is full of reverence for the women who came before her. The writing often reads like a conversation, one passed down between generations.
This is a story of motherhood, sisterhood, and migration. It’s a story of what’s lost, what’s carried forward, and what still endures. It is, above all, a story that deserves to be heard.
November 15, 2025
This is such a precious book and I couldn't put it down. For me it was a little reminiscent of Salt Houses by Hala Alyan but I loved that it is a memoir rather than fiction. Leyla writes down the stories and memories from 5 generations of her family (mainly the women's stories). She writes beautifully and the way she flows everything together is perfect. This book was also a good reminder of the hardship and lack of stability that Palestinians who fled Palestine face. In some ways it's easy to forget how they suffered in different ways from those who stayed. But the sentiment of leaving their homeland and feeling adrift in the world is prevalent in Bahi's memories specifically.
July 24, 2025
This is a book I couldn’t put down! I loved how the author wove together touching and personal family stories from across the generations, while also chronicling the sad atrocities committed against the Palestinian people. It was beautiful and is a book I’ll return to again.
Disclosure: I received a pre-pub version of book in exchange for my honest feedback.
Disclosure: I received a pre-pub version of book in exchange for my honest feedback.
November 25, 2025
Summary: A memoir of five generations of daughters of a Palestinian Christian family and a journey from Shafa ‘Amr to Texas.
For many Americans, when they hear the word “Palestinian” think “Arab” and “Muslim.” However while all Palestinians are Arabic, not all are Muslims. For centuries, there have been vibrant Palestinian communities in the land that once bore the name “Palestine” before it became Israel. Palestinians lived throughout the land, not simply in the current Palestinian territories. The family in this memoir lived for several generations around Haifa, almost due west of the Sea of Galilee on the Mediterranean coast. First they lived in Shafa ‘Amr, and then in Haifa. Jews, Muslims, and Christians peacefully co-existed. Until the nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe.” Then many fled their homes or were forcibly displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
This memoir came about when Leyla K. King, daughter of May, whose husband Joe was an American journalist, wanted to understand her Palestinian identity and her Palestinian family’s story. Her grandmother, Bahi, was still living, and she spent much of the summer one year recording her grandmother’s memories.
The story begins with Za’leh, Leyla’s great-great grandmother. She was widowed during the first World War when her husband died fighting for the Ottoman empire. After the war, the British arrived in the form of a protectorate. For Za’leh’s daughter Aniiseh, this meant education in British missionary schools. Then she was betrothed to Wadii. Bahi was her second daughter.
Much of the remainder of the story is Bahi’s story. After completing her schooling, she went to Teachers College in Ramallah. At her graduation, her mother gave her a necklace with a cross, to wear until she married. This necklace passed from one generation to the next. In 1948, Bahi married Fariid. They returned briefly to Haifa after their honeymoon, then fled. She recounts their life first in Damascus and then Beirut. As refugees, they struggled to find trust among fellow Christians as well as their Muslim neighbors. Among their children was a daughter May.
May met Joe, an American journalist, during her studies at the American University in Beirut. Again, it was a marriage in the midst of war. They had to flee the country, and eventually the family, including Bahi, located in Houston. Leyla was Joe and May second child. The final generation of daughters in this story is Leyla’s daughter Beatrice.
More than an intergenerational family story, it is a story of deepening faith through trial. The story has a fabric of faith woven through it, sometimes weaker, sometimes, especially in trial, strengthened. It is also a story of displacement, and seeking home. Bahi, upon becoming a U.S, citizen says:
“It was the wish of my heart to be an American. My prayers had been answered. I thank God always for this country; may God protect this country that accepted us and adopted us, for where else would we go? As Palestinian Christians, no one else accepted us. No one wanted us. So America became our homeland and I pray to God, ‘Please, God, please, God keep this country the land of plenty.’ This finally, is where we belonged. This country is our home.”
The whole book was a moving story of a family trusting God and seeking a home. Bahi’s prayer deeply touched me. The thought occurred to me that when we turn away refugees, we turn away many who would have blessed us with their prayers as well as their love for their new home. And I wonder if the greater loss is ours.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
For many Americans, when they hear the word “Palestinian” think “Arab” and “Muslim.” However while all Palestinians are Arabic, not all are Muslims. For centuries, there have been vibrant Palestinian communities in the land that once bore the name “Palestine” before it became Israel. Palestinians lived throughout the land, not simply in the current Palestinian territories. The family in this memoir lived for several generations around Haifa, almost due west of the Sea of Galilee on the Mediterranean coast. First they lived in Shafa ‘Amr, and then in Haifa. Jews, Muslims, and Christians peacefully co-existed. Until the nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe.” Then many fled their homes or were forcibly displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
This memoir came about when Leyla K. King, daughter of May, whose husband Joe was an American journalist, wanted to understand her Palestinian identity and her Palestinian family’s story. Her grandmother, Bahi, was still living, and she spent much of the summer one year recording her grandmother’s memories.
The story begins with Za’leh, Leyla’s great-great grandmother. She was widowed during the first World War when her husband died fighting for the Ottoman empire. After the war, the British arrived in the form of a protectorate. For Za’leh’s daughter Aniiseh, this meant education in British missionary schools. Then she was betrothed to Wadii. Bahi was her second daughter.
Much of the remainder of the story is Bahi’s story. After completing her schooling, she went to Teachers College in Ramallah. At her graduation, her mother gave her a necklace with a cross, to wear until she married. This necklace passed from one generation to the next. In 1948, Bahi married Fariid. They returned briefly to Haifa after their honeymoon, then fled. She recounts their life first in Damascus and then Beirut. As refugees, they struggled to find trust among fellow Christians as well as their Muslim neighbors. Among their children was a daughter May.
May met Joe, an American journalist, during her studies at the American University in Beirut. Again, it was a marriage in the midst of war. They had to flee the country, and eventually the family, including Bahi, located in Houston. Leyla was Joe and May second child. The final generation of daughters in this story is Leyla’s daughter Beatrice.
More than an intergenerational family story, it is a story of deepening faith through trial. The story has a fabric of faith woven through it, sometimes weaker, sometimes, especially in trial, strengthened. It is also a story of displacement, and seeking home. Bahi, upon becoming a U.S, citizen says:
“It was the wish of my heart to be an American. My prayers had been answered. I thank God always for this country; may God protect this country that accepted us and adopted us, for where else would we go? As Palestinian Christians, no one else accepted us. No one wanted us. So America became our homeland and I pray to God, ‘Please, God, please, God keep this country the land of plenty.’ This finally, is where we belonged. This country is our home.”
The whole book was a moving story of a family trusting God and seeking a home. Bahi’s prayer deeply touched me. The thought occurred to me that when we turn away refugees, we turn away many who would have blessed us with their prayers as well as their love for their new home. And I wonder if the greater loss is ours.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
July 24, 2025
Daughters of Palestine by Leyla K. King is a memoir spanning a hundred years of the women in her family, from the demise of the Ottoman Empire to WWII to the creation of Israel, and what it meant for their family to be displaced from their ancestral homeland. We often forget the plight of the Palestinian Christians who are caught in the crossfire between Jews and Muslims. It is sad that there are so few Christians remaining in the Holy Land, the place where Christianity as born. But Christians have a unique perspective: we know we are merely pilgrims on this earth; we pray for the grace to be brought to our eternal home in heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Ms. King has captured the voices of her ancestors in this book. It's an intimate portrayal of a family amidst the tumultuous and bloodiest events in recent history. I highly recommend this fast-paced memoir. You can pair it with Lawrence of Arabia by Scott Anderson to get a sense of how the modern Middle East was created. Many thanks to Eerdmans for a review copy of Daughters of Palestine.
Coincidentally, today is also the Feast of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese priest-monk known for his holiness. Let us pray to him for peace in the Middle East.
Coincidentally, today is also the Feast of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese priest-monk known for his holiness. Let us pray to him for peace in the Middle East.
August 9, 2025
King’s powerfully moving family history is skillfully told in the first person based on the recorded reminiscences of her grandmother, parents and relatives. Starting with her great-grandmother living in Greater Syria, a province of the Ottoman Empire before the first world war, she tells of the first of many migrations her family after the war when Greater Syria became Palestine, ruled by the British who replaced the Turks as governors. Then it was a time of religious tolerance when Arab Druz, Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together peacefully.
But the next world war and its aftermath changed that. Displaced and fleeing from the holocaust inflicted by the Nazi brought European Jews to their territory, and with the founding of the State of Israel and the attendant population pressure brought about the .nakba. Her grandparents fled to Lebanon as unwanted refugees. Then to Damascus and then back to Beirut and then back to Haifa in Israel, and finally to Texas. Between these hard and dangerous times are woven in family stories of both joy and sorrow.
But the next world war and its aftermath changed that. Displaced and fleeing from the holocaust inflicted by the Nazi brought European Jews to their territory, and with the founding of the State of Israel and the attendant population pressure brought about the .nakba. Her grandparents fled to Lebanon as unwanted refugees. Then to Damascus and then back to Beirut and then back to Haifa in Israel, and finally to Texas. Between these hard and dangerous times are woven in family stories of both joy and sorrow.
September 14, 2025
I think this is an interesting family history especially in the context of birth of Israel and the treatment of Palestinians. Christians or Muslims they were mistreated and robbed of their land, goods and culture.
You will note that i gave this three stars, while I was taken with the intertwining of the generations stories, I did not get the sense from this book that these folks were uplifted by their beliefs. In the course of the story I noted they had very hard times, but did have jobs and education. That the daughters went to AMU was so fortunate. But I did not feel the deep spirituality.
In Israel, before Aug 2023, we saw what had happened to Palestinians, heard the unfair division of property and talked to folks who both lost and retained their property. That the Israeli state after the Shoah could treat people like this is so hard to condone.
An explanation of that process in 1948 would have added to the understanding of this family's generational dilemma .
I wonder what would have happened to these folks under the changes this century has brought.
You will note that i gave this three stars, while I was taken with the intertwining of the generations stories, I did not get the sense from this book that these folks were uplifted by their beliefs. In the course of the story I noted they had very hard times, but did have jobs and education. That the daughters went to AMU was so fortunate. But I did not feel the deep spirituality.
In Israel, before Aug 2023, we saw what had happened to Palestinians, heard the unfair division of property and talked to folks who both lost and retained their property. That the Israeli state after the Shoah could treat people like this is so hard to condone.
An explanation of that process in 1948 would have added to the understanding of this family's generational dilemma .
I wonder what would have happened to these folks under the changes this century has brought.
August 3, 2025
Im a big fan of generational family stories. I love seeing multiple povs throughout the years it gives you such a broad picture of the families history. This was the first time I ever read a biography structured this way. It was really special to know that the events i was reading were real. The story was incredible emotional i was brought to tears at times but there is also alot of joy and hope.
My one complaint was that the story felt a little dis jointed we jumped back and forth in time several times and once or twice a story was Told multiple times. This wasn’t a huge deal but it would leave me confused and briefly unsure of what was happening.
Overall i would recommend this book. Its written like a novel so even if you aren’t a non fiction fan i think you will enjoy it.
Thank you to the publisher for this arc copy to review!
My one complaint was that the story felt a little dis jointed we jumped back and forth in time several times and once or twice a story was Told multiple times. This wasn’t a huge deal but it would leave me confused and briefly unsure of what was happening.
Overall i would recommend this book. Its written like a novel so even if you aren’t a non fiction fan i think you will enjoy it.
Thank you to the publisher for this arc copy to review!
July 16, 2025
First, thank you to Eerdmans Publishing for granting me 55 days to spend with this book. (Obviously, it didn’t take me that long to finish!)
It was a beautiful testimony to a family that suffered, yet remained so faithful to God. In a country where they were persecuted, misunderstood and literally feared for their lives, they managed to create a meaningful family dynamic.
Based on the stories she received as facts from her grandmother, Leyla created a very special retelling in a way that just flowed seamlessly as a novel would have. But knowing the stories were true made it sadder in the sad parts and overwhelmingly joyful in the happy parts. I am truly thankful that it was shared with me.
It was a beautiful testimony to a family that suffered, yet remained so faithful to God. In a country where they were persecuted, misunderstood and literally feared for their lives, they managed to create a meaningful family dynamic.
Based on the stories she received as facts from her grandmother, Leyla created a very special retelling in a way that just flowed seamlessly as a novel would have. But knowing the stories were true made it sadder in the sad parts and overwhelmingly joyful in the happy parts. I am truly thankful that it was shared with me.
July 16, 2025
Rich history of 5 generations of women in one family and their experience with their home in Palestine and living in the diaspora. The author, Leyla King, interviews her family members to learn and record their history. Heartfelt and authentic, this book shares their experience. The author doesn't attempt to explain the entire history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but rather weaves some of the history in as she tells her family's story. Much of the narration is by the author herself. These stories are so important in understanding one another, and humanizes the experience of the Palestinian people.
October 6, 2025
Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations is a memorable journey of five generations of Christian Palestinians as they move from their homeland and end up in the United States. The graphical family tree at the beginning of the book helps as a reference.
The story focuses on grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The majority of the marriages for earlier generations were arranged. Their lives are filled with joy, grief, death, and everything in between.
The story focuses on grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The majority of the marriages for earlier generations were arranged. Their lives are filled with joy, grief, death, and everything in between.
September 17, 2025
An incredible biography of a Palestinian Christian family across five generations of women, as they deal with hardship and loss, fleeing the Nakba and then violence in Syria and Lebanon, where they fled as refugees, the cultural changes and challenges over the decades, and the legacy they build in future generations in the U.S. It reads like a novel. Incredible and amazing book, and very timely, not only given what is happening in Gaza, but what is happening in the U.S. in terms of changing attitudes toward immigrants and white supremacy. Couldn't put it down.
June 30, 2025
The writing, the stories, it feels so personal it’s like reading a carefully organized diaries across multiple generations of women who endured so much struggle but also found joy in the love they shared with their families.
It feels so relevant right now, this history and often we are rarely given a direct accounts of families who grew up in Palestine and how their life’s were dramatically changed through colonial powers.
I hope everyone can read it.
It feels so relevant right now, this history and often we are rarely given a direct accounts of families who grew up in Palestine and how their life’s were dramatically changed through colonial powers.
I hope everyone can read it.
December 9, 2025
As the endorsers said, the beautiful prose feels like reading a novel. Amazingly, this intergenerational story (with helpful family tree!) is fit into only 160 pages. The author alternates first-person chapters (primarily her great-grandmother and grandmother) with third-person stories on grey-edged pages. The main "message" of this book is a family's story—it's a story to listen to, without heavy-handed agenda or gimmick.
August 4, 2025
This is a beautifully written, timely, multigenerational story about the life of a family of Palestinian Christians over the course of five generations. King writes tenderly of her family’s stories, bringing the reader into a family bursting with love, even as they face displacement after displacement. I was moved to tears multiple times. This made me wish I knew more of my family’s stories!
July 20, 2025
I wish I could give this book even more stars. It is definitely the best book I've read this year. Beautiful and emotional and poignant, a story of the power of love and family, faith and resilience.
August 9, 2025
I wish it provided more history/ context because it would be a wonderful group reflection tool.
December 20, 2025
this was a good retelling. it’s very fast paced, but it packs a lot of emotion and heartache in its short 150 pages.
July 3, 2025
I couldn’t put this book down. Leyla’s storytelling allows the reader to get beneath the polarization that has unfortunately arisen with respect to Palestinians and their history by conveying family stories. As a reader, you’re perpetually aware of larger political and social realities (i.e. the Nakba, the civil war in Lebanon), but this is the story of family: love, loss, striving, dreaming, building, and sharing. The way the stories are told felt like sitting at the feet of elders passing down the wisdom. I am glad to be able to read this book and hear these stories.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews