Audio only
Length6h 31m
About this audiobook
2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST • ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD FINALIST
Washington Post Notable Works of Fiction from 2024 • Booklist Top 10 Debut Novels of 2024 • Ms. Magazine Favorite Books of the Year 2024 • Elle.com The Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024 • The New Yorker Best Books of 2024 • NPR Books We Love 2024 • NPR staffers pick their favorite fiction reads of 2024 • Chicago Public Library Must Read Books of 2024 for Fiction • Kirkus Reviews 20 Early 2024 Books We Love • San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of Winter 2023 • Muslim Girl “12 Palestinian Books that Deserve Your Shelf Space”
"A beautiful portrait of a family reaching for their dreams while holding on to their roots."—Publishers Weekly
"Each chapter reads like a small masterpiece."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in Baltimore—from young activists in conflict with their traditional parents to the poor who clean for the rich—lives which intersect across divides of class, generation, and religion.
Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America.
Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose own family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” their name. Only a trip to Palestine, where Marcus experiences an unexpected and dramatic transformation, can bridge this seemingly unbridgeable divide between the two generations.
Behind You Is the Sea faces stereotypes about Palestinian culture head-on and, shifting perspectives to weave a complex social fabric replete with weddings, funerals, broken hearts, and devastating secrets.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (10.5K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Fantasy
Length6 hrs 31 mins
Narrated byRasha Zamamiri, Ali Nasser
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 16, 2024
LanguageEnglish
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The Song of AchillesMadeline Miller11h 15m4.3 (2.3M)$29 · $0.00
The Left and the LuckyWilly Vlautin6h 40m4.4 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
Hunt of the DragonJuliette Cross9h 46m4.4 (736)$20
Deadly GameChristine Feehan13h 20m4.3 (15.8K)$30
Swimming in the DarkTomasz Jedrowski6h 30m4.2 (98.9K)$24 · $0.00
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith14h 55m4.4 (577.6K)$33 · $0.00
Dark GuardianChristine Feehan12h 32m4.5 (26.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m4.5 (3.2K)$53 · $0.00
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m4.4 (4.9M)$12 · $0.00
Bad HabitAlana S. Portero5h 37m4.4 (52.3K)$24 · $0.00
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m4.5 (2.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Edge of DawnBeverly Jenkins10h 15m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Tapestry of FateShannon Chakraborty20h 2m4.4 (3.4K)$46 · $0.00
The Sweetest FiendRaven Kennedy16h 35m4.5 (476)$40 · $0.00
The Lack of LightNino Haratischwili26h 20m4.4 (9.2K)$53 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
You may also like
Miss Eliza's English KitchenAnnabel Abbs11h 11m4.1 (18.5K)$29 · $0.00
Invisible BoyHarrison Mooney10h 15m4.4 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Take This ManBrando Skyhorse8h 49m3.9 (2.2K)$20 · $0.00
The SpectacularZoe Whittall11h 54m3.7 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Shape of FamilyShilpi Somaya Gowda10h 39m3.9 (6.7K)$29 · $0.00
Come BackClaire Fontaine, Mia Fontaine12h 6m4.2 (11K)$29 · $0.00
Daniel DerondaGeorge Eliot33h 39m3.9 (34.2K)$2.30 · $0.00
Grown WomenSarai Johnson14h 5m4.4 (5.1K)$33 · $0.00
Cack-HandedGina Yashere8h 51m4.3 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
BlissO. Z. Livaneli10h 19m4.0 (7K)$20 · $0.00
Managing ExpectationsMinnie Driver6h 49m4.2 (8K)$24 · $0.00
Girl in a BandKim Gordon7h 13m3.9 (36.6K)$26 · $0.00
The Family InheritanceTricia Stringer12h 14m4.3 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
A Woman's WorkVictoria Purman9h 9m4.1 (1.2K)$29 · $0.00
Fault LinesAnne Rivers Siddons5h 31m3.8 (4.2K)$24 · $0.00
I Came All This Way to Meet YouJami Attenberg6h 45m3.7 (3.8K)$24 · $0.00
Sure of YouArmistead Maupin3h4.2 (12.9K)$18 · $0.00
UnlessCarol Shields7h 14m3.7 (22.6K)$24 · $0.00
The TruthNeil Strauss16h 49m4.3 (9.3K)$40 · $0.00
Forbidden NotebookAlba de Céspedes10h 28m4.3 (19K)$20