Out of it - Selma Dabbagh

Gaza is being bombed. Rashid - an unemployed twenty-seven year old who has stayed up smoking grass watching it happen - wakes to hear that he's got the escape route he's been waiting for: a scholarship to London. His twin sister, Iman - frustrated by the atrocities and inaction around her - has also been up all night, in a meeting that offers her nothing but more disappointment. Grabbing recklessly at an opportunity to make a difference, she finds herself being followed by an unknown fighter. Meanwhile Sabri, the oldest brother of this disparate family, works on a history of Palestine from his wheelchair as their mother pickles vegetables and feuds with the neighbours. Written with extraordinary humanity and humour, and moving between Gaza, London and the Gulf, Out of It is a tale that redefines Palestine and its people. It follows the lives of Rashid and Iman as they try to forge paths for themselves in the midst of occupation, religious fundamentalism and the divisions between Palestinian factions. It tells of family secrets, unlikely love stories and unburied tragedies as it captures the frustrations and energies of the modern Arab world.