Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • In My Mother's Footsteps

  • A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home
  • By: Mona Hajjar Halaby
  • Narrated by: Lameece Issaq
  • Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

In My Mother's Footsteps

By: Mona Hajjar Halaby
Narrated by: Lameece Issaq
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

1948, Jerusalem. Zakia is forced to flee the only home she’s ever known as war rips through the leafy streets and the bustling spice-filled souqs. Taking just one suitcase, Zakia thinks she’ll be able to return soon. But within weeks, she realizes she won’t be allowed back to her beloved homeland.

2007, California. Mona grew up with her mother Zakia’s memories of Palestine, imagining the muezzin’s call for prayer and the medley of church bells her mother so vividly described to her. So, when Mona gets the opportunity to teach conflict resolution in Ramallah, she also embarks on a personal pilgrimage to find her mother’s home in militarized and occupied Jerusalem.

With cherished letters from her mother who writes to Mona regularly, sharing her story of Jerusalem, Mona dreams of one day being guided by her through the winding cobblestone alleys of the Old City. Yet it is Mona who instead holds her mother’s hand as they finally visit Jerusalem together. After 59 years of exile, her mother is returning to the place she once called home – but can a lifetime of loss ever be healed?

A moving and heartbreaking journey of a daughter discovering her Palestinian roots and recovering her mother’s beloved past. It’s also an intimate and tender account of daily life for Palestinians as never seen before. Perfect for fans of The Bookseller of Kabul and The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

©2021 Mona Hajjar Halaby (P)2021 Thread, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Mornings in Jenin cover art
They Said They Wanted Revolution cover art
We Share the Same Sky cover art
They Called Me a Lioness cover art
Siblings of War cover art
The Blue Between Sky and Water cover art
Black Dog of Fate cover art
Ma and Me cover art
A Harvest of Secrets cover art
The Polish Nurse cover art
Going Home cover art
From Miniskirt to Hijab cover art
Homelands cover art
Of This Our Country cover art
The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love cover art
The Hard Road Out cover art

Critic reviews

"Utterly heart-breaking, absorbing, and tender...will stay with you long after you finish the last page." (Christy Lefteri, best-selling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo)

"An intimately detailed and moving account of what’s lost and found when human beings are displaced." (Sahar Mustafah, author of The Beauty of Your Face, a 2020 New York Times Notable Book)

What listeners say about In My Mother's Footsteps

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a moving memoir

This was a really good read, very moving and sad but also quite uplifting in the way the Palestinian people,the authors family show such resilience in such terrible circumstances.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not in the name of God!

I was prepared to take a side according to what I thought I knew!
If you asked me what a Palestinian was I’d have said a Muslim.
If you had said why did Israel have the right to occupy the region I would have said because the war councillors were ashamed by the atrocities that the Jews suffered & felt that the surviving Jews deserved a country they could call a homeland and this “ Barren” area could be cultivated to provide this.
I didn’t consider the complexity of those dispersed and ravaged people’s inability to consider their needs retrospectively with those whose homes, rights, and dignity where being disenfranchised to fulfil the birth of this new state Israel !
Proportioning blame is to presume that we think there is a solution.
I stand a little more informed of the road that brings us to this conflict of present day.
I heard the refugees heart cry in this story and thank you for your contribution to furthering my understanding
I pray for the martyrs that suffer worldwide in this manner! If your war is small or in view of the world media know I will pray for your peace.
God will judge in His righteousness.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

In mothers footsteps

Absolutely brilliant. Loved listening to this all of it. Voice crystal clear recommend it. Story was touching in everyway

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly recommend

The author provides an eloquent insight into the lives and losses of the palestinian people. Incredibly moving.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting. I didn’t know all this

I listened to this book but I can’t remember why I chose it. It’s basically the life of a Palestinian family who were forced to leave their home when the country of Israel was created in 1948. I actually had no real understanding of the history of this area, only hearing of constant trouble in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem etc in my lifetime. Hearing from the Palestinian perspective was eye opening. I feel I have been educated as the author explains in detail what happened and was is perceived to have happened to the natives, the inhabitants snd the Jewish newcomers after WW2 and right up to the present day.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

motherhood and loss

I listened to this beautifully read book while working on an art project based on motherhood and loss in Gaza. remembering Rania"s babies, born 13 October 2023, killed in a rocket attack in Raffah, 3 March 2024. We can't comprehend over 30,000 deaths... but we can decide to remember one family.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding heart quenching memoir of a beautiful soul

I can’t thank the author enough, Mrs.Hajjar Halaby, for sharing in such a humbling and honest manner the story of her mother, her own life, and the history of the Palestinian people. Throughout the book, different stories are unveiled, from heart torn tragedies to beautiful records on love compassion and forgiveness.
My eyes were filled with tears, my laughter beamed my face, while my heart was overflowing with nostalgia. Thank you for sharing the narrative of a refugee, for sharing the tales of the Palestinian diaspora, and for enlightening the world with the truth. One of the best biographies.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!