Social media: The Philistine

The Philistine still gets a steady trickle of love and attention, which is astonishing to me. How lucky am I. This recent one is an IG review by @sonjareadswrites.

>> What a marvel of a book is The Philistine by Leila Marshy!

A hidden treasure. I had such an emotional reaction to this book, it reminded me of my tears for the fabulous All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. The difficulty, the passion, the impossibility of lesbian relationships but also their utter power!

In The Philistine, Nadia not only uncovers love but her identity as a Palestinian—a Filistinia—when she goes to look for her father in Cairo. This is the 80s but the Palestinians have already been suffering greatly.

Nadia, a Canadian-Palestinian, with a boyfriend in Montreal, goes to Cairo primarily to find her father but during the delay in meeting her father she meets Manal, a powerful woman, an artist, who entices Nadia and ignites her love. This is not simply love for a particular person but for a Sappho and her wondrous community. Nadia is falling in love with her Arabic culture, her Palestinian part? But all the while the pressures of the patriarchy hover. “You can’t live as a lesbian. It’s forbidden.” A relationship with a woman cannot sustain. Going through life loving women in a patriarchal world is unrealistic.

The story is fascinating because it takes place in Egypt and Nadia does not consider herself a tourist. She is seeing the culture through the eyes of her lover and her father. It is fascinating story because her father is Palestinian, working to help his people, and Nadia wants to join him. She loves learning Arabic, too.

There is much going on in this beautifully written novel and much to think about. The dynamic descriptions give the reader the feeling of Nadia’s discovery of her self and her culture. The patriarchy so different from Canada yet the same overarching reality.

In Thankam’s book, it’s the immigrant lesbian experience in middle America while this is a North American woman in North Africa.

“Then they flew at each other like dark birds in a dark room.”

Leila Marshy @haikuboxer is a Palestinian Canadian and this is her first novel. I thank you for this book. My heart swells.

Highly recommend. <<

“Then they flew at each other like dark birds in a dark room.”

Leila Marshy @haikuboxer is a Palestinian Canadian and this is her first novel. I thank you for this book. My heart swells.

Highly recommend