Wild Thorns (Saqi Bookshelf)

First published in 1976, Wild Thorns tells the story of a community under Israeli occupation in the West Bank town of Nablus.Usama is returning from working in the Gulf. He brings with him a commitment to resistance, and a plan to blow up the buses taking Palestinian workers from Nablus into Israel every day. He despairs of his friends and family who have more quotidian concerns, even as he contemplates love and the possibilities of an ordinary life. They in turn resent the fact that he escaped, but criticises those left behind for making compromises.Usama’s cousin Adil is thoughtful and shares his critique, but also feels driven by loyalty to his extended family. They are educated and formerly affluent landowners, suffering the effects of both the occupation and his father’s illness. Adil, despite everything, wants to believe that institutions will protect him, whether that’s his family’s status in the community or the law.Zuhdi is angry about the occupation, and the small indignities he has to confront every day, when he boards the bus to go to work in Israel. However he is concerned above all with life’s essentials – food, shelter and the wellbeing of his family.As the three friends struggle with the contradictions in their positions, events escalate, with disastrous consequences.While the action is based around three male characters, the story encompasses the lives of their families and the wider community. It is often the older women who are most outspoken in the face of authority. By contrast, Adil’s sister, Nuwar, wants an education and to be free to marry, but doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. For her, the occupation is compounded by family and tradition in preventing her from having the life she chooses.Wild Thorns feels very fresh and vivid in its depiction of a community, its suffering, but also its resilience. There are powerful and visceral descriptions of everything from the fruits in the market to the horrors of prison. The writing feels very fresh and immediate. Sadly, although it is nearly fifty years old, the events it depicts also have immediacy.

Fantastic book