Ibtisam Azem
The Book of Disappearance
Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize
Alaa is haunted by his grandmother’s memories of being displaced from Jaffa and becoming a refugee in her homeland after the Nakba. Ariel, Alaa’s neighbour and friend, is a liberal Zionist, critical of the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza yet faithful to the project of Israel. When he wakes up one morning to find that all Palestinians have suddenly vanished, Ariel begins searching for clues to the secret of their collective disappearance.
That search, and Ariel’s reactions to it, intimately reveal the fissures at the heart of the Palestinian question. Between the stories of Alaa and Ariel are the people of Jaffa and Tel Aviv – café patrons, radio commentators, flower-cutters – against whose ordinary lives these fissures and questions play out.
Critically acclaimed in Arabic, spare yet evocative, intensely intelligent in its interplay of perspectives, The Book of Disappearance is an unforgettable glimpse into contemporary Palestine as it grapples with both the memory of loss and the loss of memory.
Read an ExcerptMore Info
Author: Ibtisam Azem
Format: Ebook
Publication date: 1 August 2024
ISBN: 9781916751026
Ebook ISBN: 9781916751033
Reviews
The International Booker Prize 2025 Judges
'Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography'
Ángel Gurria-Quintana
2024 Books of the Year, Financial Times
‘A thought-provoking examination of the complex dynamics of Israeli–Palestinian cohabitation.’
Sarah Shaffi
Jhalak Review
‘Incredible … beautifully translated by Sinan Antoon … In The Book of Disappearance, silence is cold, it doesn’t respond, it haunts.’
John Self
The Guardian
‘Seductively bold … This rich, potent novel reminds us that there are no easy answers.’
Catherine Taylor
Irish Times
‘The Book of Disappearance ... in a stunning translation by poet Sinan Antoon ... could not be more timely.’
Mirza Waheed
‘This is an extraordinary novel, full of heartache, longing and love for Palestine, its immensely absorbing fantasy shining a dazzling light on the most important story of our time. Azem’s writing is magnetic – I loved every page of this unforgettable book.’
Omar Robert Hamilton
‘A beloved and important novel.’
Kamila Shamsie
‘Brilliant and audacious.’
Preti Taneja
‘A book of prophecy. A book of reckoning. A book of gut-wrenching monstrosities and of profound tenderness. In this study of grief and love, state violence and wild self-delusions, Azem fearlessly looks into the void and calls out both its causes, its costs, and its lasting effects. The Book of Disappearance is a heartbreaking, awe-inspiring, genre-defying achievement.’
Claire Messud
‘An urgent and compelling novel … Brilliantly conceived and searingly executed’
Leila Aboulela
‘With deftness and layered knowledge, Ibtisam Azem pulls off a daring and inventive conceit, a spooky, witty novel that captures the paranoia of the usurper and the loneliness of those who survive to tell their tales. This is a definite winner which speaks directly to our anguish over Palestine.’
Richard Ford
‘Immensely readable . . . Azem does not resolve for us the calamity of Palestine's occupation by Israel. But stylishly and with jeweled virtuosity she makes us understand that acts of great and humane imagination will be required, and with this potent book points where and how we must all go.’
Molly Crabapple
‘Using a magical realism as cool and lacerating as that of Borges, Azem builds the story of a young Israeli journalist and his vanished Palestinian friend into a devastating exploration of the nakbah, betrayal, erasure, and love of home. For lovers of Palestinian literature, The Book of Disappearance has earned its place beside Saher Khalifa's Wild Thorns, and thanks to Sinan Antoon's masterful translation, Anglophone readers can now experience this thrilling, essential work.’
Ahdaf Soueif
‘In Jaffa, the most lively presence is that of the dead. Ibtisam Azem has gifted us with a poignant, mysterious, lyrical, new novel.’
Words Without Borders
‘Unquestionably powerful.’
The Modern Novel
‘A wonderful book, showing what the Palestinians have suffered and continue to suffer.’
Middle East Monitor
‘A masterpiece which immediately leads the reader to ponder the historical foundations of the 1948 Nakba, as well as the Zionist intentions and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the land where they belong.’
