The Slightest Green: A Novel

by Sahar Mustafah

248 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

Sahar Mustafah is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Her short stories have been awarded the Guild Literary Complex Prize for fiction, a Distinguished Story honor from Best American Short Stories, and three Pushcart Prize nominations, among other honors. She writes and teaches outside of Chicago.

Reviews

[Natalie Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct book that I just read, seeing as the cover and page count are different, and the synopsis is not on here. But I tried searching by ISBN and it brought me here, and I know this is the correct author and this is the only book on the Goodreads author page matching the title! So I think it's right, and I'm hoping it is!! Anyway, though, this was fantastic. Like what I experienced when I read The Beauty of Your Face by the same author last year, I found myself barely being able to put this down. This was beautifully written, and I found myself really connecting with the characters.

I do think the whole serial rapist antagonist/twist was slightly unnecessary. I'm not sure that it added much to the story, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment too much. This already has two 5-star ratings on here, and I'm just adding to it another 5 stars because this was just fantastic!! Sahar Mustafah is an incredible writer and I look forward to (hopefully) reading more books by her in the future.

Definitely would recommend this to others. I really hope Goodreads gets all of the right information on the book page soon. Especially without a synopsis, and with a blander version of the cover (the cover on the book I have is absolutely stunning), I think people could get turned away/ignore this!

[Kirin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adult multi generational novel weaves a narrative that will stay with the readers for the warmth and depth it explores of a fictional family that over the course of 248 pages becomes very real, and in many ways familiar through its personal focus. The book is deliberately slow as it glides through different members of the family, their backstories and different points in time. The prose highlights the plight of Palestinians but not in a didactic or call to action sort of way. The characters and their stories, and their trauma and dreams are very tied to Palestine and the occupation, but the focus on the individual and the ripple effects is what will linger. I do not know when the book was written, (it is published in November 2025) as I read a digital arc which had very minimal backmatter, but this book is set before the recent genocide and is all the more important for today's readers in pushing back against attempted erasure of Palestinian voice, culture, and history.

Intisar is a nurse in Chicago, the only daughter of divorced parents. She lives with her mother and has not seen her father in over 20 years. Not since he left the family to return to his home in Palestine, join the resistance and after a fateful mission is forced to serve a life sentence in Gahana Prison. When he is released to live his final days before he succumbs to cancer, Intisar heads overseas to see him one last time. Her grandmother Sundus additionally needs Intisar, the only heir, to fight for her to keep her land and home, a task that Intisar is not willing to pursue. As family history is shared, daily atrocities witnessed, Intisar starts to see herself differently, and considers if she could feel at home in her father's homeland.

Again I read an arc, but there are a few sentences that really have me hoping line edits will still occur before the final version. The book is adult, it has a Muslim drinking and serving alcohol, there is assault, sexual and physical mentioned, and yet I didn't feel like it was sensationalized, actually felt that the author was deliberately holding back to keep the story about the family and not the larger issues. Their is quite a bit of Islam, not from every character, but it is woven in and not an identity issue. Actually one line used frequently is my only real gripe with the book. "Pray to the Prophet," is regularly said by a few characters, so I though perhaps it is something unique to them, up until about the midpoint, where many characters start to say it and I don't like it. It makes it clear other places that Allah swt is One and who we pray to, it has the shahada in English and verses from the Quran, so I'm guessing it is a colloquialism perhaps, or maybe a poor translation, I honestly don't know, but it bothered me, so I am sharing.

[Reem Faruqi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I might have gasped when I got to the line with the title about The Slightest Green. When there's the slightest green, there's hope.

I love how Sahar Mustafa writes with unflinching honesty and tenderly captures even the hardest moments. This story had some excruciating moments, but I'm grateful Sahar Mustafa wrote about them. As an author, I imagine writing and imagining and living these experiences are heart-breaking. Notably, Sahar Mustafa has a way of transporting you right into the character's worlds. Their issues become yours.

I savored THE SLIGHTEST GREEN and the hope woven through the hardships, and the powerful voices of this Palestinian family.

I loved how this story ended (I don't want to give spoilers) Sitti Sundus's story is heartbreaking and heart-swelling and I loved the intergenerational stories of Sundus, Hafez, and Intisam and how seamlessly they were woven together.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the best book I read in 2025. Mustafah is a beautiful writer. I was eagerly awaiting this book after reading The Beauty of Your Face. While I did enjoy that book more, this book quietly grew on me. It was a slow build but worth it. By the end, when you see everything the family, Sundus, and Hafez, especially, had gone through, you feel the emotion welling up in you. And you can see how Intisar is finally, as the book says, “of two worlds.”

Some of my favorite quotes:

“There is no right one,” Mama counters. “It’s the one who shows up and stays.” (42).

“Americans barely know geography,” she says.
“When you’re not in danger of losing something, you pay it little attention” (231).

“A sense of promise— quiet, but firm like a mother’s hand” (16).

“Love is naseeb, as they say. It is meant to be or not the rest of our lives are made up of choices” (232).

[Safa · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE SLIGHTEST GREEN by Sahar Mustafah is captivating and transporting. Sahar's writing is impeccable and the characters are unforgettable. If you have not read a Palestinian novel before, let this be your first. You will be enriched and enlightened by the story and the beauty of Palestinian culture.

[layan ليان]

I need this book rn.