2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST
•
ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD FINALIST
Washington Post
Notable Works of Fiction from 2024
Booklist
Top 10 Debut Novels of 2024
Ms. Magazine
Favorite Books of the Year 2024
Elle.com The Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024
The New Yorker
Best Books of 2024
NPR Books We Love 2024
NPR staffers pick their favorite fiction reads of 2024
Chicago Public Library Must Read Books of 2024 for Fiction
Kirkus Reviews
20 Early 2024 Books We Love
San Francisco Chronicle
Best Books of Winter 2023 • Muslim Girl “12 Palestinian Books that Deserve Your Shelf Space”
"A beautiful portrait of a family reaching for their dreams while holding on to their roots."—
Publishers Weekly
"Each chapter reads like a small masterpiece."—
(starred review)
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 own family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” their name. Only a trip to Palestine, where Marcus experiences an unexpected and dramatic transformation, can bridge this seemingly unbridgeable divide between the two generations.
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.