My First and Only Love

NAMED ONE OF THE 20 BEST BOOKS WRITTEN BY PALESTINIAN AUTHORS BY HAPPY MEDIA

”My First and Only Love is a great read for upper middle school and high school students who want to understand Palestinian history and culture." —PBS Newshour Student Voices

“About falling in love across borders. . . . recommend[ed].”—Electric Literature

"[A] novel that removes the reader from a world dominated by ideology and partisan stances, into a lauding of heroism and human bravery; it sings the praises of the championship of ordinary citizens, especially during times of prevailing frustration. The story remains optimistic, in its content and its national and humanitarian mission . . . Khalifeh’s narrative style is sensitive, thrifty, and transparent . . . Well done!”—Asymptote

"Khalifeh transcends the local struggles of the Palestinian protagonists to the more universal . . . If there is an Arabic novelist who deserves the Nobel Prize, after Naguib Mahfouz, it is Sahar Khalifeh...I highly recommend."—World Literature Today

"Khalifeh is a first-class story-teller and, whatever your views on the political situation, she tells a first-class, albeit poignant story on love and loss in a period of war and oppression."—The Modern Novel

"[The] writing is political and artistic. Political in the sense that it deals with national politics and sexual politics. At the same time, it is full of humane characters and enjoys a high amount of humor . . . meaningful and beautiful"—Middle East Monitor

"Written with an emotive urgency and prescience that the Palestinian struggle demands, Sahar Khalifeh's latest novel is a stunning, if earnest, reflection on the Palestinian sense of steadfastness, from love to resistance."—The New Arab

"Epic . . . It is the bonds of respect, love, pride and dignity that connect the characters, however flawed their relationships, and however bleak their political landscape, that Sahar Khalifeh demonstrates so well in her writing."—The Electronic Intifada

"My First and Only Love is a poetic account of Palestinian resistance through the perspective of a young woman, Nadal. Returning to occupied Palestine, for the first time since the Nakba displaced her entire family, Nadal’s journey in learning about her past is a moving, urgent exploration into history, political urgency, humanity, and home."—Happy Media

"Well worth the 10-year wait . . . [a] page-turner."—The Washington Report

"Al-Khamis shows us the sounds and sights of a diverse Arab culture . . . and an occasional touch of Arabian magic reminiscent of A Thousand and One Nights."—Historical Novels Review

PRAISE FOR SAHAR KHALIFEH

“The best Arab woman novelist in the twentieth century.”—Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban

“Sahar Khalifeh is the Virginia Woolf of Palestinian literature.”—Börsenblatt

"Khalifeh is simply the greatest Palestinian novelist and one of the world’s greatest historical novelists, ranking with Naguib Mahfouz, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Pramoedya Ananta Toer.”—James Holstun, University at Buffalo

“Khalifeh effectively paints a crazy world where individuals seek to lead normal lives under nightmarish conditions . . . .Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

“In Khalifeh’s book, Palestinian Christians and Muslims, Jewish immigrants, and British colonial leaders are all treated with equal sympathy”—Women’s Review of Books

"Incisively explores individual lives—particularly women’s lives—in the years just before 1948.”—Marcia Lynx Qualey, Arabic Literature

“The author invokes a sacred heritage that remains at once vital and powerful.”—Dr. Abdel Moneim Tallima