They Fell Like Stars from the Sky & Other Stories - by Sheikha Helawy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Celebrate the courage and resilience of Bedouin women and girls of Palestine in this illustrated collection of 18 short stories translated from Arabic.

Glimpse vivid portraits of life on the margins of society: a world of intricate cultural taboos, the tender innocence of growing up, the heart-wrenching tragedies entwined with love.

Meet young girls exploring womanhood with endearing curiosity and a woman whose tattoo defies sexual norms. Witness the tragic fallout of a husband consumed by jealousy over his wife's teenage love and the euphoric passion of an elderly woman's love for football.

These sometimes-witty, sometimes-harrowing narratives are packed with an emotional power that lingers far beyond the last word.

Review Quotes

"Many stories in They Fell are at least partially autobiographical and bring to life Helawy's youth. (...) The simplicity of Helawy's prose and the length of the stories in They Fell [Like Stars From the Sky]-- the longest is 15 pages; most are much shorter -- make the collection a fast read. (...) there are also golden sentences, and in spots, Helawy lights up feelings as if they were geodes."--Washington Review of Books

"Sheikha Helawy grew up as a Bedouin in a Palestinian village, since demolished for an Israeli railway. You might expect, then, her first short story collection to be translated into English to be strident, autobiographical and political. It is, but not obviously so - these tales are remarkable for the details left out: a home, a football pitch, basic services. They're notable, too, for the passionate and rebellious women at the centre of every yarn."--The Observer

"feels like an act of love"--ArabLit

About the Author

Sheikha Helawy was born in an unrecognised Bedouin village near Haifa before moving to Jaffa, Israel. She is a lecturer in Arab Feminism at Ben Gurion University and also writes fiction and poetry. Her work has been translated into German, French and Bulgarian, and she was awarded an Arabic short story award in 2019-20.