The Locust and the Bird by Hanan al-Shaykh, Part 2

Caitlin and Darla discuss the second half (p. 152 to the end) of The Locust and the Bird by Hanan al-Shaykh.

In the book, Hanan re-creates the dramatic life and times of her mother, Kamila. Married at a young age against her will, Kamila soon fell head-over-heels in love with another man—and was thus forced to choose between her children and her lover. As the narrative unfolds through the years—from the bazaars, cinemas and apartments of 1930s Beirut to its war-torn streets decades later—we follow this passionate woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest.

We discuss Kamila's pursuit of romantic love above all other types of love, the art of memoir writing, how the characters become more complex in the second half of the book, and how we do and do not see ourselves in Kamila (and what we admire about her!). We wonder about Hanan's process in creating this story and talk about the barriers to preserving family history.

We hear from more readers of this book at the end - thank you Nada and Elize for sharing your thoughts with us!

Music by Lesfm via Pixabay.

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