What do you think?
Rate this book
The Stone House
The year is 1968. The recent Arab defeat in the Naksa has led to the loss of all of historic Palestine. In the midst of violent political upheaval, Mahmoud, a young Palestinian boy living in the Galilee, embarks on a school trip to visit the West Bank for the first time.
For Mahmoud, his mother and his grandmother, the journey sets off a flood of memories, tracing moments that bond three generations together. How do these personal experiences become collective history? Why do some feel guilty for surviving war? Is it strange to long for a time never lived?
In this groundbreaking novella, Yara Hawari harnesses the enduring power of memory in defiance of the constrictions on Palestinian life. Against a system bent on the erasure of their people, the family’s perseverance is unbroken in the decades-long struggle for their stone house.
For Mahmoud, his mother and his grandmother, the journey sets off a flood of memories, tracing moments that bond three generations together. How do these personal experiences become collective history? Why do some feel guilty for surviving war? Is it strange to long for a time never lived?
In this groundbreaking novella, Yara Hawari harnesses the enduring power of memory in defiance of the constrictions on Palestinian life. Against a system bent on the erasure of their people, the family’s perseverance is unbroken in the decades-long struggle for their stone house.
96 pages, Paperback
Published December 9, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 24, 2022
read this for a class and am so grateful to have the opportunity to read literature that centers palestinian story telling and knowledge production during my time in undergrad. hawari’s story of her ancestors brings the nakba to life across generations and shows the ways in trauma from zionist colonialism and violence is intergenerational. a great and short read if you are interested in learning more about the nakba through palestinian hakawati
March 16, 2022
No matter how many Palestinian stories I read, the experiences are just so so different. Ugh! Palestinians are some of the most resilient people and the love they have for their lands and houses is just so beautiful. The Stone House focuses on the experiences of Palestinians who were given the Isreali citizenship during its creation in 1948 — and the kind of sinister conditions they still have to live in.
We also get to see narrations from before the Nakba, when British occupied Palestine and even back when the Ottomans occupied it. A very short book but filled with such heart-wrenching real-life Palestinian stories. I hope Hawari writes more books 👏🏾
We also get to see narrations from before the Nakba, when British occupied Palestine and even back when the Ottomans occupied it. A very short book but filled with such heart-wrenching real-life Palestinian stories. I hope Hawari writes more books 👏🏾
November 11, 2023
Such an eloquent, powerful, and yet quiet novel. The subtlety with which Hawari conveys the devastating consequences of the Palestinian Nakba is weighty. It's poetic. Her characters are finely drawn and deeply compelling. I love the way she weaves together the various family members and their relationship to their home in northern Palestine; how she illustrates the textures of Israeli's ongoing, incremental genocidal apartheid practices from before 1948. The book will leave you with a gaping hole in your heart.
January 11, 2022
Rep: Palestinian cast & setting
December 23, 2022
This book brought up so many emotions for me. The intertwining stories following all three were simply beautiful and heartbreaking.
October 1, 2024
It wasn't by choice that they had ended up in a village that wasn't their own. And neither was it by choice that they had nowhere to live but in the homes of those who had been killed or exiled several decades before. It was a cruel irony , and in the end, they were all forced to live with ghosts of the past
Hawari draws on her family's experiences to create an interesting and informative novella which is a great short and easy introduction to anyone who wants to read more on Palestine. However, as a book itself, I found the sheer amount of information that was put into such little pages made it sometimes read more like non-fiction than a novella, which perhaps makes sense because of the autobiographical nature of the book. I also think a lot of the emotion of the book was created more from the events of the book rather than the writing. I think the writing might have shone more in a longer book, which would have also helped to develop the story as the final part did feel a bit rushed.
Hawari draws on her family's experiences to create an interesting and informative novella which is a great short and easy introduction to anyone who wants to read more on Palestine. However, as a book itself, I found the sheer amount of information that was put into such little pages made it sometimes read more like non-fiction than a novella, which perhaps makes sense because of the autobiographical nature of the book. I also think a lot of the emotion of the book was created more from the events of the book rather than the writing. I think the writing might have shone more in a longer book, which would have also helped to develop the story as the final part did feel a bit rushed.
January 16, 2024
A really short but beautifully written account of Yara Hawari’s own family history. It’s almost more of an essay than a novella: it doesn’t really have a ‘plot’ so much as it recounts the personal experiences of her father, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
It’s yet another example of individual lived experiences under the occupation, that really impressively manages to evoke the love Palestinians have for their land and homes, as well as intergenerational trauma and memories.
CW: ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, military occupation, death, death of a loved one, grief
It’s yet another example of individual lived experiences under the occupation, that really impressively manages to evoke the love Palestinians have for their land and homes, as well as intergenerational trauma and memories.
CW: ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, military occupation, death, death of a loved one, grief
January 10, 2022
Beautifully written, personal. Weaves stories of unspeakable tragedy with resilience of family and enduring hope that I found myself thinking of well after I had finished the book. Uplifting. Short enough I was able to read in a few sittings.
I will recommend this to all my friends who love to read.
I will recommend this to all my friends who love to read.
February 6, 2022
One of the best new books I've read in awhile. Incredibly blending lines between historical truth-telling, and the artistic licence of 'fiction' that comes with the adaptation of oral history.
July 28, 2024
1968, young Mahmoud is about to embark on an historic school trip to the West Bank, setting off the memories of his mother and grandmother.
This is an interesting, if very brief, exploration of the multi-generational and inherited trauma within one family. I really liked that this looked at three generations’ differing experiences and perspectives of the Nakba, including Mahmoud who was born after, but has grown up hearing about it and all that was lost and how that has shaped him. I also particularly appreciated the Bedouin perspective - it’s not one that I seem to come across much.
However, what is an important story (always, but especially right now) was completely let down by the frankly painful writing. All three POVs (Mahmoud, his mother and his grandmother, so very different people) had the exact same voice and it very much felt like a high school writing project. I persevered because at 91 pages, the novel (novella?) is short enough to push through, but as a reader to whom writing really matters, I cannot honestly say that it was really worth doing so.
An interesting but unfortunately painfully-written story of collective memory and the trauma of the Nakba across three generations of one family.
February 28, 2023
This was the first novel I have ever read on the Palestinian tragedy and massacre of its land and people. To say it was revolutionary is merely not a fit enough word to describe its liberating effects on my mind, body, and soul. It is truly one of the most beautiful pieces of work I have ever read.
November 20, 2023
One of the most beautiful and moving stories I’ve read this year. The author’s weaving of her family’s story with that of Palestine’s rich and painful history in less than a hundred pages is honestly magical. I’m more grateful than ever for Palestinian movies, we just never forget, we must not stop fighting. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free 🇵🇸
December 21, 2023
These very important family stories fell a little flat in the format of a novella. It might have been better as a memoir, perhaps told from Yara’s point of view as she learned these stories from her relatives.
March 23, 2022
3.5 stars
August 26, 2022
i expected nothing less from dr yara hawari, i can’t wait to buy a hard copy
October 27, 2022
I read this book for my Palestine class and really enjoyed it. Ideally I would have made it a little longer but I learned a lot about pre 1948 Palestine and would definitely recommend it.
October 14, 2023
This would have been absolutely amazing as a 300 page novel but it was not that
Read
November 26, 2023Impossibly beautiful and heartachingly sad. A story full of hope and loss and resistance.
December 12, 2023
3.5. It feels quite impossible to give a book like this a rating, but for how compelling and powerful the story is, the writing felt very flat.
May 9, 2024
this made me so sad
May 29, 2024
A deeply personal memoir about family strength and hope in over turning huge loss of family pride, property and nationhood
July 4, 2023
This is a short and simple story about the intergenerational impact of the Nakba ‘Catastrophe’. Based on oral histories collected from her own family, Hawari presents the experience of living under ruthless and unrelenting occupation through the perspective of her father, grandmother and great-grandmother.
The intimate storytelling aptly captures intergenerational trauma; the psychological effects of how monumental events and severe restrictive environments are absorbed, and then passed on to the next generation. She also conveys the difficulty in recounting memories, and crucial ties to land, house and home.
This is an easy entry into modern Palestinian writing, suitable for everyone, but especially young readers.
You can read more of my reviews here: https://www.instagram.com/neverreading/
The intimate storytelling aptly captures intergenerational trauma; the psychological effects of how monumental events and severe restrictive environments are absorbed, and then passed on to the next generation. She also conveys the difficulty in recounting memories, and crucial ties to land, house and home.
This is an easy entry into modern Palestinian writing, suitable for everyone, but especially young readers.
You can read more of my reviews here: https://www.instagram.com/neverreading/
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews