Noha Shaath Ismail

East of the Sun: a Memoir Noha Shaath Ismail

A coming-of-age tale, family saga, and nostalgic view of the fifties and sixties, Noha Shaath Ismail's memoirs describe her formative years in Alexandria, Egypt, and the personal journey that lead her to the United States in 1970. International in scope, universal in outlook,her story is set against the backdrop of political and social upheaval. She writes about the loss of her homeland, Nasser's Egypt, and the tumultuous 1960s in Philadelphia with lots of insightful reminiscences about her family and her rapidly changing world. Read about Ismail's Palestinian father, Lebanese mother, Egyptian husband, and American sons, and be touched by a complex multitude of emotions - tenderness, pride, love, sadness and yearning. Here is an immigrant's tale with stories about Muslim traditions, courting habits, and a way of life that has since disappeared. Here are also the recollections of a world traveler spurred by View-Master images her father shared with her after overseas trips, who "like Sindbad. . . longed for a taste of adventure" and the freedom to begin her own journey of discovery. Not least, here is the world view of a strong-minded woman of the world, whose home is Palestine, Egypt, Minnesota, Florida, everywhere, and whose personal story about loss, grace, and memory can inform our own.