“A Handful of Pennies: A refugee’s lifelong quest for identity and peace” is a new book by Afaf Musallam. The book, tells the story of the author’s life as a Palestinian Christian Arab woman growing up as a refugee in the Levant after the formation of the state of Israel.
In the book, Musallam shares her experiences of becoming a refugee as a child and settling in Lebanon. She describes how her life was affected by religious tensions and the country’s division by fierce daily fighting. The book also details her journey of battling with fear, identity, and guilt of having to leave her elderly mother behind.
Dr Moira Pinkney, a Paediatrician and General Practitioner, praised the book calling it “the real story of the life of a Palestinian Christian Arab woman” and Dr Denis Alexander, Emeritus Fellow of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge called it a “fascinating and moving narrative”