A Sky So Close
Betool Khedairi. Muhayman Jamil, tr
2001, Pantheon, 0-375-42096-7, $23 hb; 2002, Anchor Books, 0-385-72078-5, $13 pb
Original title: Kam Badat al-Sama’ Qareebah!! Khedairi’s unnamed narrator, like the author, is the daughter of an Iraqi father and a Scottish mother; neither can bear to live in the other’s country. The girl discovers that growing up between two cultures means growing up in neither, means being a stranger—however well-disguised—in both houses, and ultimately means making a home in homelessness itself. This is a poignant and honest story of coming of age.
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