The graphic novel collaboration and true story of two
sisters. Anaële, a writer, leaves for Palestine volunteering in an aid
program, swinging between her Palestinian friends and her Israeli friends.
Delphine is an artist, left behind in Liège, Belgium. From their
different sides of the world, they exchange letters. Green Almonds: Letters from
Palestine is a personal look into a complex reality, through the prism of the
experience of a young woman writing letters to her sister about her feelings and
adventures in the occupied territories. Green Almonds is an intimate story with
big implications. A young woman discovers a country, works there, makes friends,
lives a love story, and is confronted with the plight of the Palestinians, the
violence on a daily basis that we see on our screens and read in our newspapers.
Anaële's story is brought to life by Delphine's simple and evocative
drawings, which give full force to the subject and evoke the complexity of this
conflict, creating a journey to the everyday life of Palestinians.Green Almonds:
Letters from Palestine received the Doctors Without Borders Award for best
travel diary highlighting the living conditions of populations in precarious
situations when it was published in France in 2011.
This travelogue is set up as letters between Anaële, a volunteer in an aid program in Palestine, and her sister Delphine back home in Belgium. I enjoyed Delphine's artwork, but I wish the narrative was Anaële's alone. Delphine's postcards are clunky, out of place, and interrupt the flow. They're sometimes shockingly dismissive of the intense things Anaële shares. This is worth reading just to view Palestine through Anaële's caring, thoughtful eyes.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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1 June, 2018:
Finished reading
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1 June, 2018:
Reviewed
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Started reading
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Finished reading
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1 June, 2018:
Reviewed