Palestinian Americans' stories intertwine in novel 'Behind You Is the Sea'

Susan Muaddi Darraj's powerful debut novel-in-stories, "Behind You Is the Sea," depicts multiple immigrant Palestinian families in Baltimore, whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways. Darraj uses a kaleidoscopic point of view, dropping the reader into a character's life at a pivotal moment, then switching to another character later in time, providing a multifaceted look at their community.

While sons strain under the weight of family expectations, daughters fight patriarchal norms. In the opening chapter, "A Child of Air," high school student Reema is pregnant and planning to keep the baby despite community disapproval. Later, Reema's friend, Amal, is shunned by her family after she decides to live with her boyfriend while continuing her college education. In "The Hashtag," a woman decides to divorce her husband after he lies about his involvement in a shocking crime, and in "Gyroscopes," a teenage girl takes on stereotypes of Arabs in her school's production of "Aladdin."

Other stories illuminate the difficulties of living in diaspora, from making a living, adjusting to a different culture, experiencing racism and classism and navigating generational conflicts over changing values (Darraj's first book, "A Curious Land," was an American Book Award winner and Palestine Book Award nominee).

These themes collide in "Mr. Ammar Gets Drunk at the Wedding." Walid Ammar is upset that his son Raed is marrying a white, non-Arab American woman, Ellen, who cannot pronounce his name, calling him "Ray" instead. "It burned him up! Raed meant pioneer, he who blazes a path — that was his son, so smart and capable and clever."

At the same time, Ammar must contend with ignorant comments from the father of the bride: "[S]ome of the guests here, they're wearing head scarves. That's not gonna be something Ray surprises my Ellen with, right? In a few years?"

"We are not Muslim," Ammar replies. "These are our friends."

Ammar copes by drinking too much, and then later drunkenly rants about his niece, Amal. "Nobody talks to her…. Why would we? She's not welcome here. She's shacking up with her boyfriend…" he shouts, until nephew Marcus punches Ammar in the stomach. Darraj provides a final twist that allows the reader to see Ammar as a grieving son, and ends on an unexpected moment of grace.

Marcus appears in several chapters and, in many ways, serves as the moral center of the novel. A former U.S. Marine, Marcus works as a cop, a profession he has chosen for its potential to protect. In "Ride Along" he defends a woman from domestic violence and, throughout, he supports his sister, Amal, materially and emotionally.

Finally, in "Escorting the Body," Marcus brings his father's body back to his village in Palestine to be interred in the family cemetery. There, he discovers a secret that helps him understand his father, whom he'd previously seen only as broken and angry. Belatedly, he realizes his father was capable of great kindness, too, if not to his own children.

Such moments of insight and empathy limn Darraj's novel, shining through the sadness and tension of her characters' lives.

May-lee Chai, author of short story collections "Tomorrow in Shanghai" and "Useful Phrases for Immigrants," is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle.

Behind You Is the Sea

By: Susan Muaddi Darraj.

Publisher: HarperVia, 256 pages, $26.