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The Blue Between Sky and Water  By  cover art

The Blue Between Sky and Water

By: Susan Abulhawa
Narrated by: Jennifer Woodward
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Publisher's summary

It is 1947, and Beit Daras, a quiet village in Palestine surrounded by olive groves, is home to the Baraka family. Eldest daughter Nazmiyeh looks after her widowed mother, prone to wandering and strange outbursts, while her brother, Mamdouh, tends to the village bees. Their younger sister, Mariam, with her striking mismatched eyes, spends her days talking to imaginary friends and writing.

When Israeli forces gather outside the town's borders, nobody suspects the terror that is about to descend. Soon the village is burning, and, amid smoke and ash, the family must take the long road to Gaza, in a walk that will test them to their limits.

Sixty years later Mamdouh's granddaughter, Nur, is living in America. She falls in love with a married man, a doctor who works in Palestine, and follows him to Gaza. There she meets Alwan, the mother of Khaled - a boy trapped in his own body, unable to wake up from a deep blue dream. It is through her that Nur will at last discover the ties of kinship that transcend distance - and even death.

The Blue Between Sky and Water is a story of powerful, flawed women; of relocation, separation, and heartache; of renewal, family, endurance, and love. Susan Abulhawa brings a raw humanity and delicate authority to the story of Palestine in this devastatingly beautiful tale.

©2015 Susan Abulhawa (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Blue Between Sky and Water

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Horrible pronunciation

I have never listened to a book where the reader's articulation of words in another language was so off. It wasn't simply that she read Arabic words with an American accent. Rather it almost sounded as if she were deliberately distorting the words. Very jarring. I wish I had read it instead of listening to it.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • 01-07-16

I wish the narrator spoke Arabic ...

A really beautiful story about life in Gaza through the eyes of one family. It has only touched on the tragedy the Palestinians have had to face in the aftermath of the Israeli occupation.
Although the narrator did a good job overall I could not get passed the fact that she had no knowledge of the Arabic language and butchered the names and words that the author deliberately included . I'm not sure how the author would agree to have a narrator that did not master the Arabic language.
Over all a good read, but the ending seemed a bit rushed.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story.. Bad pronouciation

The story was beautiful.. Poignant. The narrator has a beautiful voice and would definitely listen to her if she narrated another book that didn't have Arabic phrases. She could have done a little research before narrating Arabic phrases. To name a few, It is Allahu Akbar.. Not Allahu Akbaaar (Akbaaar means news), she kept getting confused between the names Mamdouh and mahmoud. It is Djinn not Jean... Just imagine someone saying Croysant instead of Croissant. I cringed every time she mispronounced the words.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator destroys the experience

I am so frustrated beyond words! I cannot believe that Woodward did not consult an Arab speaking person or the author herself to learn the proper pronunciation of the Arabic words, names and expressions!
It was so painful and misleading.
I suggest the recording of this beautiful book be made over!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Bad choice of narrator

As much as I LOVED the book, the narrator wasn’t the right choice. Her pronunciation of the Arabic words was really bad. I would sometimes struggle to know what the real word is. I wish the narrator was someone with Arabic accent.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This story touched my heart and soul

What a wonderful story mixing facts and fiction! I can't describle the spectrum of feelings I felt througout the story. I just LOVE hajje Nazmiya's character, not that any of the characters would have been any less interesting.

The only minus, which really annoyed me while listening, is the narrator's pronunciation of Arabic words and phrases, even Nour's and Khaled's names for God's sake! :/ Couldn't audible find a single bilingual performer, who'd know how to pronunciate English AND Arabic?
Otherwise the narrator is an excellent actor, who brought the characters to life.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story, and smart writer.

I loved this book! The writer made me live every moment. I felt the characters. I felt many emotions. I cried, laughed, and felt anger. The story was told in a very interesting way. The narrator is amazing!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Favorite book of the year!

I'm in awe of Susan Abulhawa and the narrator Jennifer Woodward. The author has crafted a book that has pulled me into this family and their lives. I surrendered myself so completely that I feel a bit bereft about waking up in my life's reality rather than being surrounded by the strong and loving characters that the author created and the narrator gave life audibly.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Consistently Susan Abulhawa

The third novel from Abulhawa I listen to, and she does not disappoint. The narrator, while quite able to convey emotion, was quite annoying with her mispronunciation of Arabic names and phrases (every time she said “Nerrr” I cringed). I don’t expect her to be fluent, but she could at least do some research or annotate the pronunciations.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narration was incredibly distracting

I am not even a fluent Arabic speaker, but the horrible mispronunciation of basically every Arabic word was incredibly distracting. I almost couldn’t finish the book because of it.

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