A Suspended Life is a novel written by a Palestinian novelist Atef Abu Saif. The novel was first released in 2015 by Al-Ahliya Publishing and Distribution House in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

. It entered the final "short" list of the 2015 World Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as the "Arab

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

The Novel

In his novel "A Suspended Life", the Palestinian novelist Atef Abu Saif tells about Naim's death, owner of the only printing press in the camp, who was shot by the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i occupation army. Naim, who used to print posters of Palestinian martyrs in the camp, his son refuses to have a poster printed of him, in a profound debate about the concept of heroism and controversy over participation with life or exile. But Naim's death alters many details of the peaceful life on the camp's outskirts, where the hill on which Naim built a house, the government wants to exploit the hill and build a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

and police station. Because the hill held a special place in people's collective awareness, the residents of the camp were opposed to the project and resisted it until a clash with the police occurred. The novel reveals many details of life in Gaza, and

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

"the home of camp refugees" is called through time retrievals, narrative discrepancies, and overlapping anecdotes that detail an amazing world in which people interact, argue, and struggle to redefine and install the concept of identity, heroism, and life.

References

Arabic-language novels Palestinian novelists 2015 novels {{2010s-novel-stub