It felt important to read this book as we marked one year since the latest round of conflict in Palestine. In Enter Ghost, Hammad examines the connections between identity, art, family and shared resistance. After years away from her family’s home, Sonia Nasir returns to Haifa to visit older sister Haneen. Their lives couldn’t be more different: Haneen made a life there, commuting to Tel Aviv to teach, while Sonia married in London and stayed to focus on acting. When she returns, she is surprised to find a newly special relationship to Palestine. Soon, Sonia meets a local director and joins their production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Between rehearsals and conversations with the troupe, Sonia begins to lean into the daunting, life-altering and impossible thought of finding a new version of herself in her ancestral home. Hammad’s choice to centre Hamlet as the play in question adds depth to this story: the text was banned in Israeli prisons, seen as a dangerous text featuring an angry man with a hunger to avenge injustice. Thoughtful and moving, I really enjoyed this read. (Also, for some reason, my copy didn’t display the ‘fi’ ‘ff’ or ‘of’ letters if they appeared in sequence, making my reading experience wildly chaotic.)

Brilliantly written and exploring a range of themes, this book was incredibly moving.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I was really keen to read Enter Ghost as the premise and Women's Prize nod intrigued me. Unfortunately, I had to give up after chapter 5 as I simply wasn't feeling engaged.

The novel explores some important themes but the pace was too slow for me and I didn't feel a connection to the narrator. I rarely find myself unable to finish a book but in this case despite still feeling the storyline held potential I wasn't able to continue reading.

Perhaps this is a book I'd try and pick up again later but for now it's going to have to join the small group of titles on my "did not finish" shelf.

Beautifully written, ever-relevant, and so moving. An extremely talented writer. Everyone should read this.