Book Review; Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

• Read: 13/3/24 - 14/3/24

• Format: Physical

• Spoiler free: Yes

• My rating: ★★★★★

“Besides, sometimes it’s inevitable for the past to be forgotten, especially if the present is no less horrific.”

This slim novel is one of the most powerful books I’ve read in a long time. It is split in two parts, the event and the outcome, artfully exploring the extent war and violence affects a society.

First is the event — a true story of the rape and murder of a young Palestinian woman by Israeli soldiers which occurred at the end of the war of 1949. Some might call this event a seemingly “minor detail” in the grand scheme of the devastation that continues to occur.

In the second part of the novel, however, we observe as our main character fixates on this “minor detail”. She attempts to make sense of the inexplicable, to assign meaning where there is none, and the reader can only watch in horror as this obsession seals her fate.

Minor detail is a staggering exploration of the feeling of dis-ease that comes from the reality of war and violence. Shibli tragically demonstrates how those left behind must contend with the ghosts of the past and how disease can spread so easily to anyone left in their wake.

This novel is especially pertinent given the heartbreaking cycle of war and violence that has continued now for over a year. Praying that Palestine is given its freedom.