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A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951 this fablelike historical novel of young love darkly humorous and touching Oprah Daily is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its people

Based on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers Mother of Strangers follows the daily lives of Subhi a fifteenyearold mechanic and Shams the thirteenyearold student he hopes to marry one day In this prosperous and cosmopolitan port city with its bustling markets cinemas and cafs on the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea we meet many other unforgettable characters as well including Khawaja Michael the elegant and successful owner of orange groves above the harbor Mr Hassan the tailor who makes Subhis treasured English suit which he hopes will change his life and the very mischievous and outrageous Uncle Habeeb who insists on introducing Subhi to the local bordello

With a thriving orange export business Jaffa had always been a city welcoming to outsidersthe Mother of Strangerswhere Muslims Jews and Christians lived peacefully together Once the bombardment of the city begins in April 1948 Suad Amiry gives us the grim but fascinating details of the shock panic and destruction that ensues Jaffa becomes unrecognizable with neighborhoods flattened families removed from their homes and separated and those who remain in constant danger of arrest and incarceration Most of the population flees eastward to Jordan or by sea to Lebanon in the north or to Egypt and Gaza in the south Subhi and Shams will never see each other again

Suad Amiry has written a vivid and devastating account of a seminal moment in the history of the Middle Eastthe beginning of the end of Palestine and a portrait of a city irrevocably changed