Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad: book review
Overview: After a bad break-up in London and a dry spell in her acting career, Sonia decides to go back to Palestine for the first time in a decade. While she spent her summers there as a child and teenager, she hadn't wanted to go back. For a break, she decides to stay with her sister, who works at an Israeli university, for a month. Once there, though, Sonia finds a new stage—this time in a production of Hamlet in Palestine. Overall: 4.5
Characters: 5 Sonia is a great main character. She has an incredible amount of depth and the perfect personality for first person narration where she can wind deep inside herself but also perceive small nuances from others with her attuned eye as an actress. She's also the perfect guide into this novel for someone who isn't the most well-versed in Palestinian history as she's grown up in this place but at a distance and never with great interest. Sonia becomes increasingly involved and educated as the book progresses, allowing the reader to come along with her in organically expanding their understanding. Sonia's complexity also propels the story. At thirty-eight she straddles a truly middle position in the world. At times, she is maternal, a wise figure, a kind of glue. At others, she can still throw childish temper tantrums. She's working through past personal traumas from health issues to her divorce to her strained family relationships. Sonia has done a lot but still has room for unknown possibility in where she's going next. That makes her a fantastic main character.
The book's world expands to eventually include much of Sonia's family as well as the entire cast of the play. Part of the joy of the novel is seeing these relationships form on the page, so I won't say much here beyond that each of the characters that appear on the page are remarkably well developed.
Plot: 4 This is a meandering book but for good reason. The central conflict revolves around the play and the troubles casting, funding, and staging a play in Palestine. As the book nears its conclusion, there's a nearly exclusive focus on the unfolding of the play and the nights it is performed. But before the rehearsals narrow in, we spend lots of time with Sonia and her sister and Sonia taking in Israel and Palestine in the current moment and squaring it with memories of her childhood. Hammad takes her time developing the characters and forming strong attachments with the reader before the plot kicks in, and that leads to a major payoff by the conclusion but makes for a slower read at the beginning. Much like Intermezzo, this is a book I read slowly in the beginning and then raced the finish the final chapters. And, I don't want to give any spoilers, but the ending truly caught me off guard and is one of the few reading experiences I can remember where I genuinely didn't see the ending coming, even though I maybe should have. I'd warmed to the book as it progressed and had come to think of it fondly, but reading that last page sent a surge of visceral emotion in me that will leave this book further cemented in my mind.
Writing: 5 I'm a fan of Hammad's writing. She created such a rich and complete world. This is a slow read at times, which is not at all a bad thing. I think it's important that with a book like this you take it at a more thoughtful pace to really absorb everything that is happening beyond the beautiful sentences. One thing that Hammad does to up the pacing in certain sections is that she presents parts of rehearsals like a script. This reminded me of The Alternatives where this device is also used, but considering that this book revolves around theater, the choice makes much more sense. I thought as a novel it was fantastic, but it's also the most informative, useful work that I've read about the war on and occupation of Palestine. It's one thing to read news articles and try to take in the information; it's another to have the opportunity to step inside it through a character intimately attached and familiar with it all. Such a rich, beautiful book on many different levels and an obvious read for any literary fiction fan.
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