The shadows of the family

What does it mean to live in Jerusalem today, carrying the legacy of an ancient tribe that left the wilderness in two previous parts of Mahmoud Shukair's trilogy: "The Family Horse" and "In Praise of the Women of the Family"? Grandchildren and great-grandchildren don't know how much of their heritage was lost on the road here, nor which of the heirs was lost... Grandchildren and great-grandchildren live in diaspora within the usurped homeland, adapting to unemployment, destitution, closed horizons, and the imported values ​​of fanaticism. One of them is still haunted by the ghosts of his past—people, places, and stories—searching for the familiarity and tranquility of his ancestors in the land they inhabited, and in the eyes of a beloved who comes from a bygone era like himself. Qays and Layla are contemporaries. Now and here. In the face of guns and the flaws of classism and social and religious fanaticism. Two lovers made of ink and paper in a storyteller's notebook stained by the monitoring of the changes of an entire tribe, its stories, and its pulse over time. Two lovers, whose story blurs the line between fantasy and reality, conclude a family epic that sums up the story of a homeland. R.H. What does it mean to live in Jerusalem today, bearing the legacy of an ancient clan that left the wilderness in the two previous parts of Mahmoud Shukair's trilogy, “The Family Mare” and “Praise for the Women of the Family”? The grandchildren and greatgrandchildren are unaware of how much of their legacy fell on the way to here, nor who fell from the legators...
The Grandchildren and greatgrandchildren are experiencing the diaspora while living inside the stolen homeland, adjusting to unemployment, destitution, closed prospects, and unfamiliar Puritanism values.
One of them is still haunted by the ghosts of his past, be it people, places or tales, searching for the ancestors' intimacy and tranquility in the land they dwelled, and through the eyes of a lover coming from an ancient time like him. A contemporary tale of Qays and Layla. Here at this moment. In the face of guns and the ramifications of class stratification and social and religious puritanism. Two lovers, of ink and paper, in a storybook tainted by observing the conversion of an entire clan, its stories and its pulse over the years. The thread separating the fantasy from the reality is lost in the story of these two lovers, who wrap up a family saga that summarizes the story of a homeland.