Behind You Is the Sea

A Novel

Susan Muaddi Darraj

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Hardback

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English

HarperVia
29 February 2024

Fiction & Literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Religious & spiritual fiction; Short stories; Feminism & feminist theory; Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies

An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore—from young activists in conflict with their traditional parents to the poor who clean for the rich—lives which intersect across divides of class, generation, and religion.

Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America.

Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh, whose aunt married into the wealthy Ammar family, confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” the family. Only a trip to Palestine, where Marcus experiences an unexpected and dramatic transformation, can bridge this seemingly unbridgeable divide between the two generations.

Behind You Is the Sea faces stereotypes about Palestinian culture head-on and, shifting perspectives to weave a complex social fabric replete with weddings, funerals, broken hearts, and devastating secrets.

By: Susan Muaddi Darraj
Imprint: HarperVia
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780063324237
ISBN 10: 0063324237
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 29 February 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Susan Muaddi Darraj is the author of A Curious Land, a novel in stories which earned an American Book Award and was a finalist for a Palestine Book Award. In 2018, she was named a Ford Fellow by USA Artists. A past winner of the Maryland State Art Council’s Independent Artist Award, she is also the author of Farah Rocks, the first children’s book series to feature a Palestinian-American character. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and teaches at Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews for Behind You Is the Sea: A Novel

"""Behind You Is the Sea sweeps readers along as its characters search for love, dignity, and belonging while carving out their own unique destinies. The result sometimes defies cultural tradition and risks deep losses, but these characters always land closer to their personal truths. With tenderness and fitting humor, Muaddi Darraj deftly weaves multiple Arab American voices into a resonant chorus of humanity."" — Sahar Mustafah, author of The Beauty of Your Face ""We desperately need more books like this in which Palestinian people are presented as beautiful, richly complex human beings, not consigned to insulting, diminishing references. Gratitude to Susan Muaddi Darraj for her very necessary, beautiful work."" — Naomi Shihab Nye"