Author(s): Rula Jebreal

Fiction.

This is a heartbreaking novel dissecting the Palestinian conflict that is based on a true story. It is a film adaptation starring Freida Pinto to debut at Venice Film Festival. In 1948, as violence erupts in Jerusalem, a young Arab woman, Hind Husseini, finds fifty-five abandoned children in the streets and faces the biggest challenge of her life. Hind establishes the Dar El-Tifel orphanaga, dedicating her life to providing love, support and education to the children, changing their destiny. As the years pass and the conflict rages on, Hind finds that - despite her best efforts - some of her older students are taking part in the violent struggle for Palestinian independence, including one of her brightest students, Miral. Rula Jebreal traces the lives of generations of Palestinians in order to understand the intractable conflict. Based on fact, Hind Husseini, benefactor of thousands of children, is the figurehead in this examination of race, religion and what a homeland means.