Sheikha Helawy: They Fell Like Stars From the Sky & Other Stories

Neem Tree Press, 2023, Softcover, 128 pages, 20 × 13 cm

They Fell Like Stars from the Sky and Other Stories is a collection of eighteen short stories celebrating the courage, resilience, tragedies and triumphs of Bedouin Palestinian women and girls. From a woman whose tattoo arouses the alarm of sexual taboos to the young girls whose curiosities of womanhood spark endearment, and from the tragic outcome of a husband consumed by jealousy of his wife's teenage love to the ecstatic love of an elderly woman for the game of football, these stories offer mesmerising portraits of life on the margins. Featuring beautiful illustrations throughout, They Fell Like Stars from the Sky and Other Stories is a powerful ode to the Bedouin women and girls of Palestine and their spirit for every form of freedom.