In a terrific debut novel, Selma Dabbagh writes about a number of characters who are at the center of her novel. But more than that, she doesn’t give you a timid version but fully-fleshed characters who dream of leaving their country while wondering what will become of it. The detailing of what her characters feel in their hearts, the pace of the narrative, a survivalist spirit with which they lead their daily lives, and what is most human about them is as heartwarming as it is gut-wrenching. The political anger and the poetic hearts feel real because here is a Palestinian voice telling us (in a fictional format) a story that is very much Palestinian. What is it like to live under the cloud of bombing as the night-sky literally changes color?

Out of It is not one thing: it is many. It forces you to feel what you never wish to feel, it asks you to look in a direction you’d rather turn away from, and it engages you beyond the image of Palestine you think you know through newspapers and media. It shows how human beings continue to love in a place we might think is hopeless even though it is tied to a conflict the Palestinian people never asked for nor are responsible for.