Once in a Promised Land

REVIEW OF "ONCE IN A PROMISED LAND by Laila Halaby By A. J. Goldsmith When Islamic rogues crashed airliners into the New York's twin towers and Washington's Pentagon, life changed for all Americans. Most Americans bounced back from the horror and life continued. For Muslims in America, citizens or not, life did not continue normally. Salwa Haddad has the good fortune to be born in America when her Palestinian parents were visiting here. She did not know America nor did she envision living there as they were quite at home in Jordan. At college, Salwa attended a lecture by a Jordanian man, who held a Ph.D. and who worked at a hydrology consulting firm whose clients included Tucson, Arizona's water bureau. They chanced to meet after the lecture and soon after, properly, got married and moved to America. Twelve years passed, and the childless marriage, moved into boredom. Each morning before work, Jassim swam at his club, where he met a seemingly- friendly, fellow swimmer and flirted with the receptionist. Salwa headed for the bank where she worked. After her bank hours, she worked in as a real estate saleswoman. She was successful at both endeavors. Then came Sept. 11, 2001 and the pressures that it brought with it heaped upon their fragile marriage, a marriage that increasingly lacked intimacy. While shopping in a Tucson mall, Jassim was followed by a uniformed security guard because he "looked suspicious." "In his Ferragamo shoes?" Salwa asked the clerk who had called security. Salwa was unable to tell her husband that she was pregnant. She was unable to seek his solace when she lost the fetus. Jassim was unable to tell his wife that he killed a young man who skateboarded into his Mercedes' path. Salwa got attention from a young man at the bank. Jassim sought attention from women he met. Unknown to Jassim, his friend at the swim club, alerted the FBI to Jassim and said that he might be a terror suspect especially since his work involved the city's water supply. A suspicious woman at Jassim's workplace also kept a log of all of his comings and goings as well as his phone calls. FBI agents question a very, unworldly Jassim who does not recognize that he could be suspected of terrorism. When FBI agents question clients of his employer; they cancel their contracts. Jassim is terminated.; Salwa's lover tries to kill her, but she escapes. Author Laila Halaby was born in Beirut, Lebanon, of a Jordanian father and American mother. She came to Tucson at the age of five where she now lives with her husband and two sons. She earned her bachelor's degree at Washington University in St. Louis. She was awarded a master's degree in Arabic language and literature by UCLA and another in counseling from Loyola Marymont. In her writing Halaby seeks to dispel the widely-held myths and misconceptions about Palestinian, Arabic and Muslim people and have readers see her world from the inside.

Immediately after 9/11 a young Arab couple living in a comfortable but lackluster marriage in Tucson, Arizona, must confront personal tragedies in the midst of America's rising anger and bigotry for all things Middle Eastern. Salwa Haddad resents her husband Jassim's stoic response to prejudice from Americans. For Jassim, a scientist who doesn't believe in religion, he's simply bewildered how anyone could associate him with Islamic fanaticism. On his part, he sees Salwa's excessive shopping habits as a shoddy form of coping mechanism. After Salwa has a miscarriage of the pregnancy she was keeping secret from her husband, and Jassim accidentally runs over and kills a teenaged skateboarder, things quickly fall apart because of their self-involvement and inability to communicate with each other. As each turn to others in their separate professional and social circles, the results are secrets, lies and further tragedy. Salwa finds in her younger American coworker, the handsome but deceptive Jake, the attention and passion she is unable to get from Jassim. Jassim, trying to cope with the guilt and shame over taking someone's life, is at the same time dealing with sudden hostility and suspicions from his co-workers and the scrutiny of the FBI as well. Losing those few friends he had, Jassim realizes Salwa is emotionally unable to be there for him; so instead Jassim finds an outlet in Penny, a 30something waitress with her own emotional scars. Laila Halaby is an extraordinary storyteller, who artfully builds the Haddads' world from inside-out, while several subplots flow easily into the over-arching setting. Like the people we know in real life, her characters can be endearing and irritating. Initially I was attracted to Salwa's character, finding Jassim cold. However, halfway into the story, I found Jassim becoming the more interesting of the two, with integrity and a conscience surpassing his wife's. Halaby also seems to enjoy playing with readers' emotions. She dispenses with Middle Eastern stereotypes, while using the ones for Americans as a snare. Just as you think you've pigeonholed the author and her book, subtle plot twists lead to developments proving you wrong. ONCE IN A PROMISED LAND is a novel which goes far to capture the complexities and inconsistencies between individuals and their various identities and the roles and responsibilities they entail. I am looking forward to more from this woman in the future.

Laila Halaby's second novel tells of a crumbling marriage affected by fallout from 9/11. Halaby is a Jordanian-American writer who directly confronts life for Arab-Americans in a post-911 world: 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 and insight than your usual novel. Public libraries must have it. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Ms. Halaby is a passionate, accomplished writer, expressing her observations in language that is lovely and sensual. Much of this wonderful book deals with interior monologues of diverse characters, so much so that they vividly come to life. The structure is original and unique, and secondary characters are given their own minidramas when introduced. Given the rich detailing throughout the book, the ending seemed truncated, but except for that small quibble, this is a very satisfying read about further victims of the tragedy of 9/11.

This novel takes a look at the lives of a Jordanian couple living in the U.S. after September 2001. While this is far from the only book written on the subject, what sets it apart is that Halaby sets her story in Arizona. The physical and political distance from New York enables her to put aside the sheer horror of the fallen buildings and instead closely examine the consequences of 9/11 as they played out in U.S. ideas of race, immigration, and safety. Dialogue is not Halaby's strongest suit, but she skillfully uses the novel to provide a critical look at how an international event can affect individuals in the midst of already complicated lives.