Behind You Is the Sea, Susan Muaddi Darraj's third work of fiction, is a shimmering composite portrait of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore. Across nine stellar linked stories, she explores the complex relationships among characters divided by--or connected despite--class, language, and traditional values.
Each of the stories spotlights a particular character. For pregnant high-schooler Reema Baladi, in "A Child of Air," her father's death inspires her to keep the baby as a replacement vessel for her love. Reema's younger sister, Maysoon, cleans wealthy Demetri Ammar's house in the title piece, set 17 years later. Though both families are Palestinian American, they're in different leagues. Reema works two jobs; Maysoon drives an ancient Buick the Ammars are ashamed to have in their driveway. But money isn't everything: Reema's son Gabriel aces AP calculus, while the Ammar boy fails.
Interracial marriage fuels conflict in "Mr. Ammar Gets Drunk at the Wedding," which highlights the racist microaggressions Darraj's characters sometimes experience. "The Hashtag," the standout in a very strong collection, considers the repression of women's sexuality. Soon after Rania Mahfouz's husband returns from his cousin Rasha's funeral in Palestine, Twitter blows up with allegations that Rasha was the victim of a familial honor killing.
Darraj (A Curious Land) depicts the variety of immigrant and second-generation experience (especially women's), probing cultural and generational differences in a sensitive, life-affirming way. "The Arabs were a people that knew life could be horrifically unjust... and yet they cherished it." --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader and blogger at Bookish Beck