Beacon Press: Once in a Promised Land
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Once in a Promised Land

A Novel

Author: Laila Halaby

A dramatic tale of the complex and cruel realities of life for two Arab Americans in the wake of 9/11, by an award-winning Jordanian American

A BookSense Notable Title for February 2007

A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection

Once in a Promised Land is the story of a couple, Jassim and Salwa, who left the deserts of their native Jordan for those of Arizona, each chasing their own dreams of opportunity and freedom. Although the two live far from Ground Zero, they cannot escape the nationwide fallout from 9/11. Jassim, a hydrologist, believes passionately in his mission to keep the water tables from dropping and make water accessible to all people, but his work is threatened by an FBI witch hunt for domestic terrorists. Salwa, a Palestinian now twice displaced, grappling to put down roots in an inhospitable climate, becomes pregnant against her husband’s wishes and then loses the baby. When Jassim kills a teenage boy in a terrible accident and Salwa becomes hopelessly entangled with a shady young American, their tenuous lives in exile and their fragile marriage begin to unravel . This intimate account of two parallel lives is an achingly honest look at what it means to straddle cultures, to be viewed with suspicion, and to struggle to find save haven.
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“Laila Halaby is a deeply gifted writer. She describes complicated, culture-spanning lives in a poetic prose that is clean and compelling. There is no glossing over pain here, but the power of telling—richly human voices and the redemption of honesty.” —Naomi Shihab Nye

“Once in a Promised Land is an intricate braid of secrets, some intimate, some the brutal and nasty ones abroad these days in a land whose promise and promises have been shattered by suspicion and hostility. Laila Halaby, who still dares to dream of an intact culture, has written a forceful novel that catches innocence and the hope for wholeness in the web of its complex plot and squeezes them until they bleed.” —Rosellen Brown, author of Before and After

“Set in the early days of post-September 11th America, Once in a Promised Land draws its structure from Arabian folklore and the western fairy tale, turning both inside out to illuminate the mythic search for home and identity, the universal hunger of the soul for the genuine, and the wounding yet redemptive nature of love itself. In this timely and utterly original novel, Laila Halaby has crafted a deeply resonant tale of out tangle and common humanity.
—Andre Dubus III

“Once in a Promised Land uses the novel form to bring to life the roots of prejudice and cultural differences, making it a top pick for readers seeking something with more depth than your usual novel.” —Diane C. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Reviews

Review: Baltimore Sun - February 18, 2007
“Halaby's lyric recounting of her characters' choices . . . adds a poignancy to what is ultimately a very dark tale of the way we live now . . . Halaby weaves her once-upon-a-time Arabian tale with a harsh lyricism and keen insight into what it means to be disenfranchised, divested of everything you have earned on whim and suspicion alone." Read Full Review
Review: USA Today - February 14, 2007
“Halaby is spot-on in her observations of how slowly a once-idyllic union can crumble.” Read Full Review
Review by: Carolyn See, Washington Post - February 2, 2007
"Sometimes you run out of adjectives. Or the adjectives lose their luster. What if I say that Once in a Promised Land is brilliant, insightful, heartbreaking, enchanting—what does that even mean anymore? But this novel is brilliant because the prose glows, sends off heat. Insightful because it allows us to see into a place that most of us don't know about. Heartbreaking because you can feel the situation that these characters are trapped in. And enchanting because it's told in the form of a fairy tale that lets us believe that, somehow, these poor souls may be able to rescue themselves. " Read the full review.
Review: About.com - January 2, 2007
“Once in a Promised Lands a gem of a novel. Halaby creates an engaging social commentary on immigrant life in a post-9/11 America, but does not come off as preachy or disapproving. Rather, Halaby's fluid prose reads like an ethereal, modern-day fairy tale as she weaves in Arab myths and stories throughout the novel. The result is a richly layered tale and unique introspective into the immigrant experience that many will enjoy and savor.” Read Full Review
Review: Library Journal Review - November 15, 2006
“Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries, this novel would make a thought-provoking book club choice.”
Review: Booklist - November 1, 2006
“Halaby perceptively examines the everyday realities of the immigrant experience through convincingly drawn characters.”
Review by: Chitra Divakaruni, author of Queen of Dreams - June 7, 2006
"Halaby has created a beautiful, poignant tale about America in a dark time and peopled it with exquisitely crafted characters who wring our hearts."
Named one of the 100 best fiction books of 2007 by the Washington Post

Questions for Discussion

  1. Salwa and Jassim find themselves surrounded by hostility after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Did you notice a change in attitude towards Arabs in the U.S. after 9/11? Are there other groups in your community that are discriminated against because of their ethnicity or religion? Have you ever been subject to discrimination?
  2. Jassim kills a teenage boy in a car accident. What would your reaction be if you hit and killed someone? Would you go visit the victim's family, as Jassim did, or avoid them? What if you were the parent of a child who was killed in an accident-would you want to meet the person who was responsible, even if accidentally, for your child's death?
  3. Salwa doesn't tell Jassim that she is pregnant. Why not? How would you have handled this situation?
  4. Halaby tells the story from two very different points of view: Salwa's and Jassim's. Is one of them more compelling for you, or easier to identify with? Do you find that at different times in the story you are sympathizing or siding with either Salwa or Jassim?
  5. Every aspect of Jassim's life is splitting apart: he kills a boy in a car accident, he gets fired from his job as hydrologist, and his wife is becoming distant and secretive. How does he handle these three crises? If you were in his place, would you have done anything differently? Can you think of a time in your own life when you had to deal with frustrating circumstances that were outside your control?
  6. Marcus, Jassim's boss, fires Jassim because his clients are scared off by the FBI investigation and the company is losing contracts. Marcus knows that Jassim is the innocent victim of a witch hunt, but lets him go nonetheless. Do you think he did the right thing? What else was nagging at Marcus? How would you have dealt with the situation if you were in Marcus's place?
  7. How does Salwa get drawn into the affair with Jake? Can you identify some of Jake's traits or qualities that she is attracted to? Why can't Salwa see the negative side of him that is so obvious to other people (Petra and Randa for example)?
  8. Compare Salwa's affair with Jake and Jassim's relationship with Penny. Are Salwa and Jassim looking for similar things in their extramarital relationships? What is missing in their marriage that they are seeking elsewhere?
  9. Salwa's friend Randa, to whom she confesses about her affair with Jake, advises her not to tell Jassim, "no matter what." Would you have advised her differently?
  10. Arab culture is an integral part of Salwa's and Jassim's identities, and even though before 9/11 their life in the U.S. is quite comfortable, it is inevitable that at times they feel misplaced and yearn for the sense of belonging and the warm familiarity of their homelands. Can you point to specific instances when Salwa and Jassim have to reconcile the differences between the Arab and the American cultures or lifestyles? Have you ever had to negotiate between your own culture and a foreign one?
  11. When Jake cooks dinner for Salwa, he offers her candy-coated shumur (fennel), which "brought back desserts eaten only during Ramadan, brought back home in one tiny burst and then another" (p. 209). Does shumur remind you of Proust's madeleine? Can you point to other things (rituals, flavors, etc.) that "bring" Salwa back to her homeland? If you were away from your home, what would be your shumur?
  12. What do you think happens at the end of the novel? Is Salwa dying? Are they reconciled? How do you interpret the folk tale?

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Once in a Promised Land

ISBN: 978-080708390-1
 Publication Date: 1/15/2007
 Pages: 352
 Size:5.5 x 8.5 Inches (US)
Price:  $23.95
Format: Cloth
Availability: Not currently available.
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