Published: 1 March 2019
Last updated: 5 March 2024
A YEAR AND A HALF after the publication of her acclaimed debut novel Sonora, Hannah Lillith Assadi is planning to board a plane in a few weeks that will take her from her home in New York back to her parents’ house in Scottsdale, Arizona, which lies a three-hour drive across the desert from Sonora, Mexico, the place that Ahlam, the main character in her book, yearns for.
Her parents’ home, where Assadi grew up and which is at the heart of the book, will be her destination for the last time: not long ago, her parents completed their preparations to move to their new apartment in Brooklyn, a short taxi ride from Assadi’s own place. The three will take the cross-country trip of nearly 4,000 km back to Brooklyn in the family car.
In the meantime, her father Sami has been making the final arrangements for the move — and trying to address the psychological weight of leaving home yet again. The house has already been sold.
FULL STORY The Palestinian-Jewish author rocking America's literary scene (Haaretz)
Photo: Hannah Lillith Assadi (Natan Dvir)
