Enter Ghost - by Isabella Hammad

About the Book

"A bold, evocative new novel from the National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 and Betty Trask Award winner Isabella Hammad that follows actress Sonia as she returns to Palestine and takes a role in a West Bank production of Hamlet. After years away from her family's homeland, and healing from an affair with an established director, stage actress Sonia Nasir returns to Palestine to visit her older sister Haneen. Though the siblings grew up spending summers at their family home in Haifa, Sonia hasn't been since the second intifada and the deaths of her grandparents. While Haneen stayed and made a life commuting to Tel Aviv to teach at the university, Sonia remained in London to focus on her burgeoning acting career and now dissolute marriage. On her return, she finds her relationship to Palestine is fragile, both bone-deep and new. Once at Haneen's, Sonia meets the charismatic and candid Mariam, a local director, and finds herself roped into a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Soon, Sonia is rehearsing Gertrude's lines in Classical Arabic and spending more time in Ramallah than in Haifa with a dedicated group of men from all over historic Palestine who, in spite of competing egos and priorities, each want to bring Shakespeare to that side of the wall. As opening night draws closer it becomes clear just how many invasive and violent obstacles stand before a troupe of Palestinian actors. Amidst it all, the life Sonia once knew starts to give way to the daunting, exhilarating possibility of finding a new self in her ancestral home. A stunning rendering of present-day Palestine, Enter Ghost is a story of diaspora, displacement, and the connection to be found in family and shared resistance. Timely, thoughtful, and passionate, Isabella Hammad's highly anticipated second novel is an exquisite feat, an unforgettable story of artistry under occupation"--

Book Synopsis

WINNER OF THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE - Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction - A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of the Year

"Assured and formidable." -- Wall Street Journal

After years away from her family's homeland, and reeling from a disastrous love affair, actress Sonia Nasir returns to Haifa to visit her older sister Haneen. This is her first trip back since the second intifada and the deaths of their grandparents: while Haneen made a life here commuting to Tel Aviv to teach at the university, Sonia remained in London to focus on her acting career and now dissolute marriage. On her return, she finds her relationship to Palestine is fragile, both bone-deep and new.

At Haneen's, Sonia meets the charismatic and candid Mariam, a local director, and finds herself roped into a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Sonia is soon rehearsing Gertude's lines in Classical Arabic and spending more time in Ramallah than Haifa, along with a dedicated group of men from all over historic Palestine who, in spite of competing egos and priorities, each want to bring Shakespeare to that side of the wall. As opening night draws closer it becomes clear just how many violent obstacles stand before a troupe of Palestinian actors. Amidst it all, the life Sonia once knew starts to give way to the daunting, exhilarating possibility of finding a new self in her ancestral home.

A stunning rendering of present-day Palestine, Enter Ghost is a story of diaspora, displacement, and the connection to be found in family and shared resistance. Timely, thoughtful, and passionate, Isabella Hammad's highly anticipated second novel is an exquisite feat, an unforgettable story of artistry under occupation.

Review Quotes

Winner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize

A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of the Year

A New York Times Editor's Choice

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

Longlisted for the Ondaatje Prize

A Boston Globe, Vulture, Electric Literature, Sunday Times and Times (UK) Best Book of the Year

Chicago Public Library "Favorite Book of 2023" Selection

"Terrific . . . Enter Ghost though contemporary, is thoroughly infused with Palestine's past -- and thoroughly haunted by Sonia's. Hammad, who is both a delicate writer and an exact one, intertwines the two, taking care to give Sonia as many personal ghosts as she does historical ones....Indeed, the novel seems to argue, real growth and connection, both political and personal, cannot begin until everyone's ghosts have emerged from hiding. Art is, if nothing else, a powerful tool for coaxing them out." -- New York Times Book Review

"[Hammad] is at once able to trace broad social and historical terrains without losing her grasp of particulars, giving a surgical finesse to her writing about the human personality. Her style is often labeled 'exquisite.' These skills put her in the company of other postcolonial literary novelists such as Ahdaf Soueif and Abraham Verghese." -- Washington Post

"Astonishing." -- Vulture, #2 Best Book of the Year

"Hammad is not only a talented novelist; she is also a rigorous researcher, and she paints an authentic picture of Palestinian life, whether it takes place inside Israel or in the West Bank . . . In Enter Ghost, Hammad navigates between the personal and the political in what has come to be her signally seamless manner. She moves across these borders often, almost as if they did not exist." -- Raja Shehadeh, The Nation

"Assured and formidable." -- Wall Street Journal

"Exploring themes of diaspora, displacement and the search for identity, Hammad constructs a world rich in texture and emotion. A poignant narrative of resilience and the quest for belonging, Enter Ghost is a dazzling story of self-discovery against the backdrop of displacement." -- Aspen Words Literary Prize jury

"An Arabic language production of 'Hamlet' in the West Bank is the stage for this clear-eyed and vivid book, in which estranged sisters, hot-headed men, a zealous director, and a cast of actors work together in spite of their internal and external challenges to make art despite political strife." -- Boston Globe, A Best Book of the Year

"The complexities, dangers, and haunting realities of contemporary Palestinian existence seep through the tightly-woven plot and beautifully moving prose of Enter Ghost." -- Electric Literature, A Best Novel of the Year

"An exquisite piece of storytelling that weaves history and politics and family with a profound meditation on the purpose of art. It's nuanced, multilayered and gorgeously written and, as with all great novels, rewards multiple readings." --Monica Ali, The Guardian

"Engrossing . . . A highly topical story about the complex connections to be found in art, politics and family life." -- Sunday Times, Book of the Year Pick

"There could hardly be a more urgent time to understand the inner lives of Palestinians, which are depicted with poignance and grace in Isabella Hammad's novel Enter Ghost." -- Nathan Thrall, The Observer Book of the Year Pick

"Captivating . . . A deeply moving narrative that illuminates the lived realities of Palestinians in the West Bank, skillfully interweaving themes of resilience, the struggle for self-discovery, and the complex performance of identity in everyday life." -- Harper's Bazaar

"Hammad's prose is just as exquisite and wise as her main character." -- Bustle

"[Hammad is] a calm and vital storyteller, a writer of real rhythmic grace." -- Ali Smith, The Guardian

"Enter Ghost brings to mind Mahmoud Darwish as well as Shakespeare . . . A stirring novel and a tribute to those Palestinians who have attempted, and attempt, to make art despite the forces ranged against them."-- Times Literary Supplement

"Can a work of art act upon the world? In a humanitarian and political crisis, what kind of contribution is a play? These questions rise gradually to the surface in the British Palestinian writer Isabella Hammad's Enter Ghost . . . Hammad refracts her philosophical inquiry through an elegant assem¬blage of metatextual layers, filling her novel with plays within plays, works that comment directly on the uses of art."-- Jewish Currents

"Magnificent, deeply imagined...a thought-provoking, engrossing story about the connections to be found in art, politics and family life." --The Times (UK)

"Enter Ghost is a novel to savour rather than steam through -- not least because it feels completely different to anything else being written right now in English, a heartfelt meditation on the relationship between art and politics. The story unfurls with a slow delicacy and Hammad sustains tension without resorting to cheap suspense . . . When you surrender to her writing, everything else falls away." -- Sunday Times (UK)

"Enter Ghost takes you deep inside the protagonist's experience while opening a wider window on to life for Palestinians and their exhausting day-to-day struggles. Hammad explores this setting with intelligence and a fine-grained specificity... A richly layered novel." -- The Guardian

"Enter Ghost is a novel to savour rather than steam through--not least because it feels completely different to anything else being written right now in English, a heartfelt meditation on the relationship between art and politics. The story unfolds with slow delicacy and Hammad sustains tension without resorting to cheap suspense . . . What Hammad is asking of the reader is participation. When you surrender to her writing, everything else falls away."-- Johanna Thomas-Corr, Times (UK)

"A thorough and thoughtful exploration of the role of art in the political arena." -- Kirkus, starred review

"Hammad is a pretty flawless writer who, despite her harrowing and often intellectually complex subject matter, produces easily readable, human, generous work. Young adults and mature intellectual readers alike will get behind Sonia's struggles with relationships, work, family and self-image, which are instantly recognisable and perfectly parsed."-- Times (UK)

"[A] soul-stirring and dramatic tale of a Palestinian family's exile and reconciliation. . . . The layered text, rich in languages and literary references, dives deep into Sonia's consciousness, illustrating her hopes for what art can accomplish. This deeply human work will stay with readers."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Hammad's enthralling second novel expertly navigates tensions in present-day Arab-Israeli relations with rare literary grace and insight... Exquisitely illuminated by the author's tender writing, Sonia's experience of the daily tectonic strain between occupier and occupied, a 'throwback to the intifada summers of [her] adolescence, ' leads to a new, deeper appreciation of her ancient heritage and her natural place in it."-- Shelf Awareness

"Hammad's characters contend with displacement, ancestral home, authenticity, and the shimmering possibility of finding yourself in unlikely places. Sisterhood, soul-searching, and Shakespeare--what more could you ask for?"-- Literary Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023

"A lyrical meditation on Palestinian endurance, the role of theater as political protest, and the undeniable pull of home."-- Booklist

"Brilliant." -- Literary Review

"Enter Ghost is a masterful, deeply convincing portrait of the all-too-real consequences of political theater--in both senses. A moving and important novel that presses upon the urgent question of how we ought to live in the midst of the rubble (and ongoing chaos) of political crisis."--Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows

"There is so much to be said about this book: beautifully written, poignant yet forceful, thoughtful and thought provoking, but above all challenging, challenging the reader to respond to the question facing the characters in the novel: how to live under occupation while preserving your dignity and humanity? Hammad answers this question through taking us into the hearts and minds of the characters in the novel and through that into the heart and mind of Palestine."--Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran

"Outstanding. Next-level. Aesthetically, intellectually, emotionally and culturally satisfying. It is astonishing but true that Isabella Hammad is incapable of striking a false note. She immerses her heroine in volatile territory with the accuracy, compassion and coolness of a surgical knife sliding into a diseased body. The result is a stunning beauty -- an eye-opening, uplifting novel that grants its vulnerable cast and their endeavors a rare and graceful dignity."--Leila Aboulela, author of River Spirit

About the Author

Isabella Hammad was born in London. Her writing has appeared in the Paris Review, the New York Times, Conjunctions, and elsewhere. She was awarded the 2018 Plimpton Prize for Fiction and a 2019 O. Henry Prize. Her first novel The Parisian (2019) won a Palestine Book Award, the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Betty Trask Award from the Society of Authors in the UK. She was a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree, and has received literary fellowships from MacDowell, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and the Columbia University Institute for Ideas and Imagination.