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Crossing
WINNER OF THE FOOTNOTE X COUNTERPOINTS WRITING PRIZE
'Vivid, compassionate, captivating' Elif Shafak
'A special and original voice, one for our times' Philippe Sands
'A moving and tender story about love and identity, and a meditation on the people who make us who we are' Dina Nayeri
A beautifully and compellingly written memoir-family saga where the author retraces the love story between her Palestinian father and Italian mother, and the life of her half-Italian, half-Palestinian family from the 1960s to 2020. After the loss of her mother, she tries to renegotiate her mixed identity and understand her mother's choices from an oppressive childhood in a village in Tuscany to love and community activism in Palestine.
This is a story about grief and what it means to lose not only loved ones, but also a place in the world and a sense of belonging.
'Vivid, compassionate, captivating' Elif Shafak
'A special and original voice, one for our times' Philippe Sands
'A moving and tender story about love and identity, and a meditation on the people who make us who we are' Dina Nayeri
A beautifully and compellingly written memoir-family saga where the author retraces the love story between her Palestinian father and Italian mother, and the life of her half-Italian, half-Palestinian family from the 1960s to 2020. After the loss of her mother, she tries to renegotiate her mixed identity and understand her mother's choices from an oppressive childhood in a village in Tuscany to love and community activism in Palestine.
This is a story about grief and what it means to lose not only loved ones, but also a place in the world and a sense of belonging.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published May 8, 2025
7 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Sabrin Hasbun
1 book2 followersSabrin Hasbun is a Palestinian-Italian transnational writer. She has always had to mediate between cultures and every day for her is a journey across borders.
Sabrin believes in the extremely generative power of collective creation and action and her research focuses on collaborative practices to explore histories of marginalised groups and decolonisation strategies. She has recently worked as writer, editor, translator, and trainer for several institutions around the world and published articles, both individual and collaborative, about collective creation in communities. She now works as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Cardiff Met university, specialising in writing for liberated imaginations and alternative futures.
Crossing, Sabrin’s family memoir about displacement told through the love shared between her Italian mother and Palestinian father, was awarded the Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize.
Sabrin believes in the extremely generative power of collective creation and action and her research focuses on collaborative practices to explore histories of marginalised groups and decolonisation strategies. She has recently worked as writer, editor, translator, and trainer for several institutions around the world and published articles, both individual and collaborative, about collective creation in communities. She now works as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Cardiff Met university, specialising in writing for liberated imaginations and alternative futures.
Crossing, Sabrin’s family memoir about displacement told through the love shared between her Italian mother and Palestinian father, was awarded the Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 2, 2025
incredible. powerful. vivid. educational. heart wrenching. inspiring. compassionate. captivating. vital reading. could not recommend it more. a must read. once I got into it I found it so hard to put down. despite my life being worlds apart from Sabrin's, elements were so relatable. I don't think this will ever leave me.
January 16, 2026
Deeply moving. It brought back rich memories of short times I spent working in Ramallah in the hopeful years after the Oslo Accords. More recently, I visited Florence and thus could sense better the mingling of Italian and Palestinian cultures.
I was pleased that the author found no reason, throughout the book, to name the oppressor. I knew. Everyone knows...
I was pleased that the author found no reason, throughout the book, to name the oppressor. I knew. Everyone knows...
May 15, 2025
The type of book that will stay with you for a lifetime.
November 2, 2025
“Oh yes, but it’s a great pleasure, isn’t it, to be spoiled, to be a daughter for a bit longer” 😭😭😭😭😭😭
January 9, 2026
It would help to know at the start of each chapter which country we are in. I found it hard to get in to and sadly didn't finish it. I was so looking forward to reading this book.
July 24, 2025
SO GOOD. Sabrin Hasbun has written a book that resonates so deeply on so many levels -- longing and belonging all entertwined in a bittersweet joy. Grab a copy of this gorgeous book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews