Against the Loveless World: A Novel
Written by Susan Abulhawa
Narrated by Susan Abulhawa
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist
“Susan Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior; she looks into the darkest crevices of lives, conflicts, horrendous injustices, and dares to shine light that can illuminate hidden worlds for us.” —Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
In this “beautiful...urgent” novel (The New York Times), Nahr, a young Palestinian woman, fights for a better life for her family as she travels as a refugee throughout the Middle East.
As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation. Nahr’s subversive humor and moral ambiguity will resonate with fans of My Sister, The Serial Killer, and her dark, contemporary struggle places her as the perfect sister to Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties.
Written with Susan Abulhawa’s distinctive “richly detailed, beautiful, and resonant” (Publishers Weekly) prose, this powerful novel presents a searing, darkly funny, and wholly unique portrait of a Palestinian woman who refuses to be a victim.
Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American writer and political activist. She is the author of Mornings in Jenin—translated into thirty languages—and The Blue Between Sky and Water. Born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, she moved to the United States as a teenager, graduated in biomedical science, and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, Abulhawa founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental children’s organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children. She lives in Pennsylvania.
Related to Against the Loveless World
Related audiobooks
Sankofa: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Salt Houses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Map of Salt and Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Land to Light On: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Arsonists' City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Girl is A Body of Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Minor Detail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stationery Shop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Island House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Season: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Behind You Is the Sea: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shadow King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thirty Names of Night: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Twenty-Ninth Year Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Infinite Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Selfless Act of Breathing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aftershocks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disoriental Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bastard of Istanbul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evil Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ardent Swarm: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Honor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Intentions: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Final Revival of Opal & Nev Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone Knows You Go Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No One Can Pronounce My Name: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girls Burn Brighter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Literary Fiction For You
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stardust: The Gift Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Against the Loveless World
206 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books I ever read, it left me speechless
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow. What a different perspective to be in. Gorgeously written.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautiful and tragic story of the Palestinian / Israeli conflict from the Palestinian perspective.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This novel was hard to read. By the end it was wrapped up beautifully, thank you Susan abulhawa
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this book. Nahr will be with me from now on
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5this is a wonderful book that i think about daily
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely amazing story set in Palestine. All I can say is that this is an absolute must read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stunning and heart wrenching. So pleased how it ended and for the beautiful stories in between.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very powerful, the narration was weak but tolerable for the sake of the novel
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a beautiful and eloquent book. After a long time, I have liked a book this intensely.