Awards

• Joint winner of RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards 2022 (UK)
• Long-listed for Jhalak Prize 2025 (UK)
• Short-listed for Jhalak Prize 2025 (UK)

Overview

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9781838852634

Table of Contents

Reviews

N.S. Nuseibeh conjures her diverse identities and interests to create a world that is free and hospitable. English-Palestinian, author-cook, mythologist-feminist, at home in Jerusalem, at work in Oxford, and at play in New York, Nuseibeh confronts the divisive and discriminatory issues that dog our times with a cosmopolitan ethic of justice and equality that seeks to build arguments, rather than to win them . . . Namesake explores vulnerability, fragility, anxiety, and ambivalence as ways of beautifully coming to terms with the wounds and worries of the world -- HOMI K. BHABHA A wonderful book about the deep backstories and the tangled histories of N. S. Nuseibeh's own multiple identit[ies]. She is self-deprecating and thoughtful and always interesting, a rare instance of a writer who seems to listen as much as she informs -- MARK HADDON A brilliant book . . . [Namesake is] thoughtful, rigorous, fascinating, personal, reflective, all the good things -- OCTAVIA BRIGHT The life of Nusayba - a mother, a warrior - becomes the prism through which N.S. Nuseibeh deftly and lyrically reflects the contemporary world back to us, illuminating not only the layers of a physical landscape shaped by empire and colonialism, but of our mental landscapes of myth and story. Probing questions of identity, inheritance, faith, feminism and home, Namesake is a masterful tapestry. It will leave you seeing both self and world with new eyes -- ERICA BERRY Such a brave, insightful and important book. A collection of essays exploring the author's Palestinian, Arab, British, Muslim, female, academic and privileged identities through deep thinking and rigorous research while using an ancestor as her touchstone . . . I learned so much from this book -- ZEBA TALKHANI

N.S. Nuseibeh conjures her diverse identities and interests to create a world that is free and hospitable. English-Palestinian, author-cook, mythologist-feminist, at home in Jerusalem, at work in Oxford, and at play in New York, Nuseibeh confronts the divisive and discriminatory issues that dog our times with a cosmopolitan ethic of justice and equality that seeks to build arguments, rather than to win them . . . Namesake explores vulnerability, fragility, anxiety, and ambivalence as ways of beautifully coming to terms with the wounds and worries of the world -- HOMI K. BHABHA A wonderful book about the deep backstories and the tangled histories of N. S. Nuseibeh's own multiple identit[ies]. She is self-deprecating and thoughtful and always interesting, a rare instance of a writer who seems to listen as much as she informs -- MARK HADDON A brilliant book . . . [Namesake is] thoughtful, rigorous, fascinating, personal, reflective, all the good things -- OCTAVIA BRIGHT Such a brave, insightful and important book. A collection of essays exploring the author's Palestinian, Arab, British, Muslim, female, academic and privileged identities through deep thinking and rigorous research while using an ancestor as her touchstone . . . I learned so much from this book -- ZEBA TALKHANI

A wonderful book about the deep backstories and the tangled histories of N. S. Nuseibeh's own multiple identit[ies]. She is self-deprecating and thoughtful and always interesting, a rare instance of a writer who seems to listen as much as she informs -- MARK HADDON A wonderfully inventive blend of personal insight and contemporary commentary with Islamic history, myth and culture . . . Intuitive and profound * * Big Issue * * N.S. Nuseibeh conjures her diverse identities and interests to create a world that is free and hospitable. English-Palestinian, author-cook, mythologist-feminist, at home in Jerusalem, at work in Oxford, and at play in New York, Nuseibeh confronts the divisive and discriminatory issues that dog our times with a cosmopolitan ethic of justice and equality that seeks to build arguments, rather than to win them . . . Namesake explores vulnerability, fragility, anxiety and ambivalence as ways of beautifully coming to terms with the wounds and worries of the world -- HOMI K. BHABHA Namesake is a brilliantly written book that will enrich how you think about feminism, identity, connection and home. A collection of fascinating and rigorous essays, it's a generous, intimate invitation to reflect on the different ways we might understand ourselves and one another -- OCTAVIA BRIGHT The life of Nusayba - a mother, a warrior - becomes the prism through which N.S. Nuseibeh deftly and lyrically reflects the contemporary world back to us, illuminating not only the layers of a physical landscape shaped by empire and colonialism, but of our mental landscapes of myth and story. Probing questions of identity, inheritance, faith, feminism and home, Namesake is a masterful tapestry. It will leave you seeing both self and world with new eyes -- ERICA BERRY Nuseibeh deftly probes a wide range of topics - history, feminism, religion, culture, nostalgia, racism, violence, anxiety, illness and motherhood - in ways that are deeply personal, specific and nuanced . . . Perhaps most beautifully and importantly, Nuseibeh's writing demands of her what it asks of her reader: self-examination, honesty and grace. It's no small thing to achieve in writing something so deeply personal that also graciously extends to others -- DIMA ALZAYAT Fascinating, insightful and eye-opening. Namesake taught and entertained me in equal measure with its warmth, originality and vision. I loved how N.S. Nuseibeh seamlessly navigated between the brutally personal and breathtakingly universal, how she wove in such an eclectic and impressive range of voices and ideas -- VIOLET MOLLER Such a brave, insightful and important book. A collection of essays exploring the author's Palestinian, Arab, British, Muslim, female, academic and privileged identities through deep thinking and rigorous research while using an ancestor as her touchstone . . . I learned so much from this book -- ZEBA TALKHANI Incredible . . . A very warmly told and a very human book filled with tenderness, ample food and sensory descriptions -- CAROLINE EDEN

Author Information

N.S. Nuseibeh is a British-Palestinian writer and researcher, born and raised in East Jerusalem. Her interests include issues around identity, ethics, inequality and education. She has previously written for the Atlantic and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Namesake won the Giles St Aubyn Award first prize as a work-in-progress. @ZNuseibeh

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