The Locust And The Bird

A richly woven and breathtaking memoir from the perspective of the author's own mother: a Radio 4 Book of the Week 'It is an extraordinarily brave act for a writer to undertake to inhabit, fully and sympathetically, the life her mother lived before she was born, particularly when her mother was no jewel of wifely virtue' J.M. Coetzee 'This is a book that wears its heart firmly on its sleeve, offering an insight into an unfamiliar culture and a cinematic love story' The Times Kamila is nine years old when she is taken from the poverty of her childhood village in southern Lebanon to Beirut. She has never learned to read or write, though she longs to go to school. Stories, poetry and film are her passion - and a beautiful boy called Muhammad. They fall in love before Kamila is forced into an arranged marriage, despite her tears and screams. She is only fourteen years old. On her wedding night her first daughter is conceived; four years later, Hanan is born. Kamila and Muhammad continue to see each other in secret, risking their lives. It is eight years before Kamila can bring herself to divorce her husband, as to do so means leaving her daughters behind. Beautifully evoking the dusty streets of Beirut and life in Lebanon, this is a heartbreaking memoir of an extraordinary woman.

My mother wrote this book. She did not want my voice; she wanted the beat of her own heart, her anxieties and laughter, her dreams and nightmares. She wanted her own voice. Brought up in poverty in a village in southern Lebanon, Kamila never had the opportunity to go to school, although she longed to. She was nine years old when she moved to Beirut and only eleven when her brothers tricked her into getting engaged to a man - her uncle, eighteen years her senior. Kamila was expected to be stone-bearing donkey - to live a domestic life. But it is the sounds, stories and imagery of poetry and films, and a beautiful boy called Muhammad, that fascinate Kamila. Muhanmmad is enchanted by her spirited and wily nature and they fall in love. Despite scratching, screaming, biting and crying, Kamila's battle against her arranged marriage is fruitless. At fourteen she is forced to marry and share her husband's bed. That night, her first daughter is conceived. Her second, Hanan, is born three years later. What follows is an incredible story of love and loss, tragedy, community and strength. Risking their lives Kamila and Muhammad continue to see each other in secret, sharing ideas, poetry and laughter. It takes eight years before Kamila can bring herself to divorce her husband, as to do so means abandoning her daughters. Evoking the dusty streets of Beirut and the fabric of life in Lebanon this is a remarkable and moving memoir about an extraordinary woman told with heartbreaking insight and raw honesty.

List of members in v. 1, 3-6, 9-11, 14-16, 18.