The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders

Palestinian-American journalist and Fulbright fellow Aziza delivers a visceral debut autobiography that braids mental illness, queer identity, and generational trauma into a striking meditation on exile. Centering on her struggle with anorexia, Aziza recounts the collapse of her body and marriage to a man she calls “C” in lyrical, often harrowing detail, describing herself as “a marionette with severed strings” before her psychiatric hospitalization in 2019. Her recovery was tenuous, hampered by subpar medical care and stubborn self-loathing. As she recounts those struggles, Aziza also writes of her budding queerness, cataloging the emotional toll of suppressing her desires in order to save face within her religious family. Threaded throughout is a reflection on Aziza’s Palestinian heritage and the impact of Israeli occupation, particularly in Gaza. Aziza’s disconnection from her body mirrors her family’s geographic and psychic distance from their homeland, where longing for peace has calcified into “patience, sumud, and grief.” It all adds up to a poetic and politically potent exploration of survival. Fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Rabih Alameddine will find much to admire. Agent: Elias Altman, Massie & McQuilkin Literary. (Apr.)