The Blue Between Sky and Water

Excellent must read that traverses journey of courageous Palestinian women

The Blue Between Sky and Water is a cadence which traverses perennially through four generations of a Palestinian family from the village of Beit Daras. The narrative starts with the mother of three who befriends a djinn Sulayman that always stays by her side or at least when his presence is necessitated. Mariam, her youngest daughter with mismatched eyes, sits by the river and talks to an imaginary friend Khaled who teaches her how to write and she is blessed with the quality to divine the unseen by seeing people’s shine. Nazmiyeh, the eldest among her three children, is bodacious and bold who has the moxie to speak of things Allah forbids and her quips and lewd remarks can make anybody laugh and, at the same time, can leave them red-faced. The sustenance of the family depends on the only son of Hajje Um Mamdouh, who ekes a living working as an apprentice at a beekeeper’s. Though they were unaware of the looming tumultuous storm which will shatter their lives forever, the day when villagers come to Hajje Um Mamdouh to ask Sulayman for help to discern the intention of Jewish settlers who, for a long time, have resided along with them the djinn admonishes them against the evil approaching but gives them a glimmering hope that one day their village Beit Daras shall rise from the ashes. The day which would dissipate their jovial lives finally arrives and drags those who survive the genocide committed by Israeli forces including Nazmiyeh and Mamdouh with their spouses to refugee camps in Gaza. Eventually, Mamdouh parts from his sister after he leaves the camp and set out for Kuwait against her wish and his fate finally takes him and his family to Amreeka. Although Mariam and her mother die but the djinn, Sulayman, and Mariam’s partner of her imaginary realm, Khaled, never leaves the family and stays with them for generations to come. Nazmiyeh and her brother, Mamdouh, now have grandchildren including Nur, Khaled and Rhet Shel among them. Nur is Mamdouh’s granddaughter and after he dies she gets entangled with her own quandaries at a very tender age. She is sexually abused by her stepdad, ignored by her Spanish mom and once she is extricated by Nzinga, an African lady, out of these unimaginable sufferings she is made to change her foster home time and again. Meanwhile, in Palestine, Nazmiyeh’s grandchildren, Khaled and Rhet Shel, are living an impenetrable life in a world where there is not much left to lose. They seek happiness out of anything pleasurable they find from rummaging whatever little is left in Gaza. The cadence of sorrow and bliss continues and her fate finally brings Nur home where she spends rest of her life with Nazmiyeh, her daughter, Alwan, and the cousins, Khaled and Rhet Shel.Susan Abulhawa’s The Blue Between Sky and Water is a heart-wrenching narrative which at times is blithesome and it makes you squint at the little pleasures on the other side through the thick fog of ordeals, sorrows, and misery which Zionists have brought to the Palestinians ever since the day of Nakba. It narrates the story of four generations of a Palestinian family who have been struck with the plight that the occupation carried with it. It left them bereaved as the members of their family parted, sometimes shot dead by the Israeli forces and sometimes taken away as prisoners to be freed only if God punishes the occupiers for their egregious atrocities or brings an end to the occupation. It would be an injustice not to mention the character at the heart of this novel, Khaled, who is named after Mariam’s imaginary friend and is incapacitated. His blinking at the request of his little sister Rhet Shel as an approval or disapproval for her chores and fancies will melt your heart. The grandmother Nazmiyeh is the most prominent character as she is the one who binds the family together at morasses and she imbues the whole narrative with the shades of matriarchy which at times rescues her daughter and grandchildren from the surreal monotony of the occupation and their limited life with recurring chores. This novel depicts the life under a siege where whatever little amenities are available are brought from Egypt through tunnels and as the story proceeds it becomes palpable that if you are diagnosed with some diseases it’s better to die with it rather than staying optimistic with forlorn hope of getting an opportunity for treatment outside Gaza. No matter if their life is nothing but a ramshackle despair, they live it with sheer determination to rejoice for every minuscule surprise Allah unfolds before them. Nur’s confluence with her Palestinian family reaffirms the never-ending affection of Palestinians for their homeland regardless of the place where they live and whatever culture they have ingrained in themselves. Being an American graduate she had better prospects in outside world but her affection for her roots deeply entrenched in Palestine convinced her to stay with her family in Gaza and help the Palestinians in need. Hers is a character which at times is vulnerable but her win over all the odds is a surefire especially when Nzinga and Nazmiyeh are by her side. The novel is flushed with so many prominent characters that describing each of them would be painstakingly arduous but it is extremely necessary to iterate that they all have a unique story to tell as they all bear the scars of occupation and have lived with a myriad of predicaments throughout their life. The Mornings In Jenin author lives up to the expectation and she deeply penetrates your soul with this prodigious narrative of love, affection, longings, and sufferings. Rating- 4/5

A very articulated account of the poignant story of people deprived of a segment if their homeland -- a fact grossly ignored by the western world. Life goes on - parties, marriages, fights, music lessons et al, despite the trials, tribulations and tragedies. Susan Abulhawa describes it all in a very compelling manner. A very candid way to have insight into history.