REVIEWS
Lilas Taha’s great gift in BITTER ALMONDS is to create characters and scenes so richly resonant with life and vitality, that the complicated, lush world of the Middle East feels as tangible and close as any world you are living in. Crucial in our strange days? Perhaps more than anything.
– Naomi Shihab Nye
Author of Habibi
[t]he novel deals poignantly with both the issue of drawing the boundaries of responsibility along familial lines and, by extension, along national lines, in the sense that filial responsibility is tied to national identity. In doing so, it offers a hopeful glimpse into the possibilities of family-building and belonging beyond blood-bound ties, which has profound implications for developing the larger, social, global family.
See full review in the Middle East Monitor
Bitter Almonds is a poignant exposition of Palestinian Arabs living in perpetual exile from their homeland. This is another historical fiction story on a subject contrary to what readers usually hear and read about from this war-torn corner of the Middle East, where residents are currently being forced into exile again. Recommended reading!
Read full review by Historical Novel Society
ANNOUNCEMENTS
English and Arabic book signing event for Bitter Almonds in Amman, Jordan on October 1st, 2018 during the Amman Book Fair
Touching Hearts: An Engineer who writes from the heart, touching others.
Full Interview in Qatar Tribune
Announcing the release of the Arabic translation for Bitter Almonds as اللّوز المُرّ
Join me for a conversation with Georgetwon University in Qatar on January 24, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. For more information click here
Join me to discuss rhetorical devices uses on Thursday, October 26, 3-5 pm at Tracy Gee Community Center as part of the Houston Writers Guild Fall/Winter Seminar Series. Free to all Houston writers. Click here for more details.
Let’s help out Houston residents affected by hurricane Harvey. All proceeds will be donated to the Harvey Relief Fund. Starting date pushed to September 16. Let’s work together on Novel Writing at the Fig Writer’s Studio in Houston. For registration and more details click here
Had uplifting and deep discussions with the book club ladies of the American Association of University Women AAUW- Fort Bend chapter on July 3, 2017.
“وفي ثنايا الرواية تفيض الروح الإنسانية والنضالات المعقدة التي يخوضها الأشخاص العاديون وهم يحاولون التغلب على ظروف حياتهم الاستثنائية” – More on Aljazeera Arabic المزيد على
“A love story rooted in history and Palestinian culture, Bitter Almonds is inspired by the tremulous events in the Middle East and author Lilas Taha’s family history.” – read more about Bitter Almonds in the Gulf-Times
Proud to announce that Bitter Almonds won the 2017 International Book Award in the Fiction-Multicultural category.
Sincere thanks to the ladies of AAUW West Harris County Branch book club for the warm welcome, thoughtful discussion and powerful encouragement. March, 2017.
Sincere thanks to the members of the American Association of University Women AAUW Fort Bend chapter, Texas for an enlivening and heartwarming discussion. Honored to have been invited and included, February 2017.
Taha will give a workshop on novel writing in Houston every Saturday in September, 2017 at The Fig Writers Studio. For full details on the interactive workshop click here
A lively discussion, fantastic setting and a wonderful book club group at Nofa Creative Space, Amman Jordan.
Bitter Almonds is now available in large print by Ulverscroft Publishing Ltd
ABC Treehut in The Hague, The Netherlands, in partnership with HBKU Press, hosted a reading and book signing for Palestinian-American author, Lilas Taha. Ms Taha read from her latest novel, Bitter Almonds. Click here for details.
Reading and book signing on April 16, 2016 at 6:00 pm at TIRAZ Centre, Amman, Jordan.
