The Book of Disappearance

‘Brilliantly conceived and searingly executed.’ * Claire Messud *
‘In this immensely readable novel, Ms. Azem does not resolve for us the calamity of Palestine’s occupation by Israel. But stylishly and with jeweled virtuosity she makes us understand that acts of great and humane imagination will be required, and with this potent book points where and how we must all go.’ * Richard Ford *
‘Seductively bold…This rich, potent novel reminds us that there are no easy answers.’ * Guardian *
‘Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography.’ * The International Booker Prize 2025 Judges *
‘I love [The Book of Disappearance] for [its] narrative intimacy, for the questions [it] pose[s], and for [its] unflinching accounts and fierce recriminations of culture, identity and history.’ * Sarah Ayoub *
‘Thought-provoking, unsettling and elegantly evocative.’ * Good Reading *
‘In a world increasingly numb to ongoing violence, The Book of Disappearance offers a jolt of imaginative urgency.’ * NZ Booklovers *
‘A powerful novel, enduring in the issues it exposes…A novel that will stay in your mind, [providing] a compelling case for dialogue about a story that is ongoing.’ * ReadPlus *
‘Azem’s spare and evocative novel is an unforgettable glimpse into contemporary Palestine as it grapples with both the memory of loss and the loss of memory.’ * Art of Healing *

Ibtisam Azem (Author)

Ibtisam Azem is a Palestinian novelist, short story writer, and journalist, based in New York. She was born and raised in Taybeh, near Jaffa, the city from which her mother and maternal grandparents were internally displaced in the 1948 Nakba. She lived in Jerusalem before moving to Germany and later to the US. Azem has published two novels in Arabic: The Sleep Thief (2011) and The Book of Disappearance (2014). Her first short story collection, City of Strangers, is forthcoming in Arabic in the summer of 2025.

Sinan Antoon (Translator)

Sinan Antoon is an Iraqi poet, novelist, translator, and scholar. He holds degrees from Baghdad and Harvard and has published two collections of poetry and five novels in Arabic. Antoon’s writings in English have appeared in various publications. Antoon returned to his native Baghdad in 2003 to co-direct About Baghdad, a documentary about the lives of Iraqis in a post-Saddam-occupied Iraq. He is an associate professor of Arabic literature at New York University.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.