Enter Ghost

I admired the steady, poised storytelling, which illuminated brilliantly how difficult it is to make art in Palestine, and the remarkable qualities of the people who keep striving to do so anyway. It never sensationalises a precarious situation, and the Israeli soldiers remain discretely distant, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, while the analogies between Shakespeare's great play and the political situation in a land where something is very rotten indeed are fascinating. Reading it reminded me of the theatre groups I met in the West Bank when I lived there many years back, and the astonishing efforts they make… show more.

I loved how this novel was so many things: an insightful story about a woman trying to figure out her life after an affair ends, a group of actors rehearsing Hamlet in Arabic, and an insight into everyday life on the West Bank in Palestine.

I grew to know each character and appreciate their strengths and flaws; their interactions and conversations, whether about acting, politics, or each other, rang so true.