Author(s): Raja Shehadeh

History | Palestine & Israel | Biography and Memoir

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

A subtle psychological portrait of the author's relationship with his father during the twentieth-century battle for Palestinian human rights.

Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship.

A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognize his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irrevocably.

This is not only the story of the battle against the various oppressors of the Palestinians, but a moving portrait of a particular father and son relationship.

Review: 'Powerful ... It's a mark of Shehadeh's brilliance that this latest revisiting is full of surprises: it's even in tone, but jet-fuelled by implicit emotion; there's no conventional suspense, but it is absolutely gripping ... masterly' - Rachel Aspden

'A striking story of loss, heartbreak and political perfidy ... This is a tragedy within a tragedy, of a father and son who, despite their similarities, failed to understand one another, against the backdrop of dispossession of the Palestinian people' - Lara Marlowe

'Highly readable ... thought-provoking' - Observer

'Slim but powerful - rich in recent historical detail with a poignant personal trauma threading in and out of it. This is a Palestinian memoir that will endure' - Gerald Butt

'Praise for the author:

'Palestine's greatest prose writer' - Observer

Author Biography: Raja Shehadeh is Palestine's leading writer. He is also a lawyer and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. Shehadeh is the author of several acclaimed books published by Profile, including the Orwell Prize-winning Palestinian Walks. He lives in Ramallah.