Post­ed by Cha­va Lansky

Ish­mael’s Oranges by debut nov­el­ist Claire Hajaj tells the par­al­lel sto­ries of Sal­im and Jude. Sal­im is a young Pales­tin­ian boy liv­ing in Jaf­fa who’s life is thrown upside-down in 1948. Jude is a Jew­ish girl liv­ing with her fam­i­ly, all of whom are Holo­caust sur­vivors, in the north of Eng­land. Their paths col­lide in 1960s Lon­don where they fall in love despite the many chal­lenges their back­grounds pro­vide. Hajaj fol­lows the jour­ney of those cast adrift by war and the indi­vid­ual and uni­ver­sal con­flicts that ensue. The beau­ti­ful cov­er illus­tra­tion depicts the detach­ment and anonymi­ty of a life in exile.

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