“It is story narrated in a pyramidal shape starting in the year 1913 and built around a Palestinian extended family (network of relatives of different generations that extends and live under one roof) which, like other Palestinian families, has to face so many inevitable political and social changes in the country while adapting to new cultures all through the way.

The narrator in this story, Safa' is a daughter of a well-off Palestinian family brought up in Nablus, an interesting and ancient place rich in history, and always in close contact with the flowing trends and civilizations. And while bringing her ancestors back to life through fully loaded memory that dates back to 1913, she puts emphases on the different currents & waves that invaded the country and its impact on the people in all aspects of life, politically, socially, culturally .. etc..

The impressive old town of Nablus, known for its famed soap industry and Kunafeh sweets, folkloric images, the two mountains "Gerizim" and "Ebal" and the dialect of its people, while boasting with elegance as the commercial and business center of Palestine with its own large economy and cultural heritage, prevailed from the beginning through its magnificent panoramic distinct of the antiquity of ancient houses, mosques & public baths, narrow alleys taking us in a journey to the times of the ancestors and fathers... to different eras with its indicated qualities and features of joys and worries. Eras of the First World War, the Second World War, the Ottoman Empire, the spread of the Zionistic existence and the Palestinian immigration in the year 1948, to the war of 1967 and the disaster of the fall of the Palestinian cities in general, and Nablus in particular, with its associations, Oslo Accords and its tangibility, and finally the Uprising "Intifada", through reflecting real picture about life in Nablus bearing accurate details concerning its history, its traditional life style and places.

The story ended with Nablus, like all Palestinian cities, under siege and closure, its historic sites' elegance is being consumed by violence. The Israeli incursions have tarnished the Old City distinct putting its future in question as the recent generation lives in the limbo, uncertainty, and instability that come with the protracted conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.. the damage done to its architecture and the economy of the city cannot be erased.

In this story, the romantic dreamy and sparkling love story between the narrator Safa' and Ayma,n who both live under the same circumstances of occupation and were brought together in a mysterious way and pure coincidence when Safa' went to handle Ayman a patriotic pamphlet, dominates good part and adds glimpse of light to a life full of afflicted bereavements, tragedies, misfortunes and disappointments.

I would like to say here that through this story I tried to dig deep down in the depth of the historical and cultural features of the Palestinian world and touch the deep core of many issues of different aspects of life, politically, socially &culturally. Divorce as a result of broken marriage and its consequences was among many women's issues that I always wish to display as one of the most important issues that is dear to me and close to my heart, and while the woman in this story (Safa') is begging for it in many ways, with the man as the only one who legally has the right to give or forbid it, I wanted to stress on the fact the divorce shouldn't be a problem, but only a dissolution of an unhappy phase of life.

The story leaves us at the end in the middle of mysterious surroundings and a reality of denial and marginalization.. It doesn't give a bright, clear warning though everything has changed because Nablus is still going under the occupation although it expanded, extended and grew, but it is a random growth. As for the rest of its characters, some of them have grown up and others died.. and while Safa', the joyful and playful character at the beginning of the story, can see now in the eyes of her great love, Ayman, the reality around her beaten by suppression, treachery and betrayal… she also has changed in her depth, and matured mentally and emotionally. As for Ayman, who sacrificed a lot and kept hopes tickling him that one day people will raise against the occupation and defeat it, the novel ends with him as he grew old in paths of alienation and time after it left him skinny, with gray hair and one leg and a face with changed features.. it left him saying: "I don't regret the past… but I cannot wash the bitterness inside me..!".

As I said at the end of the book, this novel "… was written by a Palestinian pen to highlight some daily life scenes from the world of a Palestinian citizen that is full of wars and disasters... so it came as a recollection with a summary of the human Palestinian life with its concerns, history and pain, wars, suppression and uprising "Intifada" against the foreign occupiers through times. The story is full of events that some can be familiar but not said anymore, wrapped with oblivion, it can also return to refresh the memories of the old generation who lived on the curves of its chapters, and, at the same time, helps the young generation to go through the past and connect it to the present and future".

Susan Al-Rasekh