This book I ordered and read primarily because it is written by a Palestinian asexual author, which is really cool, and also because I listened to a podcast where they read one of her stories and the writing was just beautiful. So a win-win situation!
There’s a wide range of short stories in this collection, but the vast majority have to do with Palestinian culture and the diaspora. For example, there’s a beautiful one about Palestinian clothing and how it feels to try on a part of your culture. There is also a Palestinian retelling of Snow White that I was very amused by as it calls itself out, and Orpheus and Eurydice make an appearance.
To be honest, some were just too short for me to really get into them (which is also part of why short stories aren’t typically for me) but the longer ones are just beautiful. “Handala. The Olive, the Storm, and the Sea” is the story I heard through the podcast and being able to revisit it written down was just stunning. The words just flow off of the page.
There’s also a lot of great ace rep, in particular some ace male representation. There’s a prince who just wants companionship and the opening story involves the titular Muneera loving the Moon. It is really cool to see diverse representation and also representation that isn’t aimed to just educate the audience. There are probably people reading this who do not know the exact terms “asexual spectrum” but still get the sense that to not want sex is normal and fine.
I really enjoyed this read and getting deeper in Sulaiman’s
works. She has another anthology and a book and other exciting things coming
up, so I can’t wait to get my hands on those as well!
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