Having enjoyed other books by Shehadeh, I found this to be another deeply felt and passionately argued book about belonging, and the ways that land is sacred to that sense of who we are. The weaving together of both voices in this book was beautiful and arresting, and truly gave added context to why people's lives have been so deeply affected by the removal of land and rights in Palestine.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book details the search for hidden or neglected memorials and places in historic Palestine. This land is one Israel and occupied territories and so many sites are difficult to access.

Interesting book, well written and narrated (I listened to the audiobook).

Thanks to NetGalley and Profile Books Audio for the Audio ARC!

Forgotten is a solemn and contemplative journey through some of the lost areas of Palestine, both from the collective memory and from the author's individual memories. The stories told are sad and sentimental, and the author's sense of loss is palpable in the text. This is a recollection of a dying nation, starved at its roots. Very poignant, very necessary. These voices from the past need to be preserved into the future.

I am very interested in Palestinian history and this book was a perfect fit for me. After I finished listening, I immediately ordered a physical copy for my shelf. The writing and the narration were incredible, I enjoyed listening very much.

In Forgotten, we follow Raja and Penny as they explore the present-day Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories in search of Palestinian historical sites and memorials.
Through their journey, we learn that a substantial portion of Palestinian history has been obscured and overlooked or even erased. I liked that they often included the commentary of people who live near or take care of those sites and memorials, its nice to get a perspective of local people.

This book is an exploration of history, history that should not be forgotten…

Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson's search for Palestinian memorials in what is now Israel and occupied Palestinian territories is both informative and heartbreaking. It is a desperate attempt to catalogue the systemic erasure of a culture - one that is happening right in front of the world's eyes.

In one of the chapters, Israeli kids are being told the "history" of how Israel had to fight for survival against the barbarian Palestinians who resort to unspeakable violence. Right in front of their eyes and they have to walk away without contesting. Even if you discount multiple versions of truth, you can't help wondering if this isn't the story of every recorded history across nations and continents?

The book carries the pain of the unacknowledged Naqba of 1948 with most sites having people who vowed to return or stayed back in the hope that things will change. Memorials to struggles, graves of prophets and cultural significant landmarks are falling apart without attention. Jerusalem, the hotbed of three monotheistic religions, is torn apart with one set of people evicted by force. Handicapped by language all these years, finally the Palestinian writing in English is used as a medium to tell their history.

The last few generations who grew up around 9/11, fed on funded media narratives and a climate of "terror" - have developed deep biases against people of certain nations without knowing their history. We needed mass genocide (and megalomaniacal leaders) to even take notice and maybe, explore below the surface. These voices deserve to be heard and we owe them an apology. Powerful purpose driven writing - which may have an other side narrative too.

We are not judges - just the gallery. I hope the mindless and atrocious acts against fellow human beings stop.

Thank you Profile audio books for the ARC copy. This book needs to be read.

This was perhaps the wrong fit for me, which was entirely my own fault. I had hoped to gain a better understanding of Palestine from a Palestinian pov which appears to be a difficult thing to do when you’re limited to audiobooks.

That said, I did gain some understanding, and the research that has gone into the title is quite phenomenal, for me it was very much an exploration of history lost to war, which due to my own lack of knowledge I’m sad to say a lot was a bit over my head.

The writing and the narration were fantastic, I can’t help but wonder if this would work better in physical form? Perhaps there are photographs included to support the stories told.

My review is definitely more a reflection of my own lack of knowledge than the book itself.

Huge thanks to Profile Books Audio via NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧

Thank you Raja Shehadeh, Penny Johnson, Profile books Audio and Netgalley for this arc.

Just WOW.

In Forgotten we follow Raja and Penny as they search for historical Palestinian memorials and significant parts of Palestinian history in what is now Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. With them, we discover so much of Palestinians history has been erased and/or neglected and so many historic sites are now being walked on and/or built on by people who do not understand the significance of where they are standing.

I listened to this on one sitting and found it so heartbreaking and interesting, I really felt like I was with Raja and Penny on this journey and could picture everything they were seeing .
This will stick with me for a long long time and I can’t wait to read more from them both.
I also loved the narration of the audiobook