I’m very curious to see what Hammad might do next. It rewards, delights and informs the reader, in much the same way that a careful read of Dickens or Zola does. The Parisian is a book worthy of your time. Her grandmother, Ghada (who features briefly as a young girl towards the end of the book) was the main source of these stories about this gentle, sensitive man who happened to live his life during extremely turbulent and ‘interesting times’. These are the stories that Hammad grew up listening to. On his return to Nablus, he continued to affect a Parisian air much to the amusement of his family, who teased him about his Parisian ways for the remainder of his life. Midhat is loosely based on Hammad’s own great-grandfather, Midhat, who went to Paris to train to be a doctor during WWI. It’s hard to believe this historically rich, self-assured novel is a debut. Hammad’s writing is just lovely and Midhat’s story, utterly absorbing. She has used a traditional, classic style of storytelling which suits this time period perfectly. Hammad has created an incredibly immersive story about a fascinating period in history (the end of the Ottoman Empire and the growing unrest in the Levant area between WWI & WWII), all told from a Palestinian point of view. My favourite and best read for 2020 is The Parisian by Isabella Hammad.
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