The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly by Susan Muaddi Darraj (with interview and giveaway)

Back in April, I had the pleasure of hearing Susan Muaddi Darraj read from her collection of stories, The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly. The reading was the kickoff for a writer's conference I attended the next day with Serena (you can read about my experience here). The excerpt Muaddi Darraj read pulled me in right away, and I snagged a copy of the book at the end of the reading. (She even signed it while I sat there staring dumbly because I never know what to say to an author when they're standing right in front of me.)

It only took me two days of commuter reading to finish The Inheritance of Exile. These stories--which can stand alone but fit perfectly together as a novel--focus on four Arab-American women, friend who grew up together in Philadelphia. Nadia, whose mother won't let her tell her boyfriend about the extent of her injuries from a car accident because it would shame his family; Aliyah, a writer who clashes with her parents when she inserts true family stories into her fiction and who meets a man during a summer visit to Ramallah and realizes she's too Arab to be an American and too American to be an Arab; Hanan, whose decision to marry an American drives a wedge between her and her mother and who later realizes her husband doesn't understand her; and Reema, whose boyfriend is obsessed with the idea of Arabian harems and gets all of his ideas about her culture from old movies.

In weaving in stories of their mothers, who are Palestinian immigrants, The Inheritance of Exile reminds me a lot of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club (which is a good thing because The Joy Luck Club is among my all-time favorite books). Cultural tensions abound, but there also is a sense of fierce love, of a mother's desire for her daughter to accomplish more than she did in her homeland. Here are two passages from Hanan's story, "Preparing a Face," that illustrate these tensions:

She walked out of the kitchen, out of the house, though before the door closed, she heard her mother say, "That's how she is, my American daughter--if she doesn't like something, she leaves. Too busy for us stupid Arabs. She thinks she hurts us by doing that." (page 85)

"So you fight with your mother, it seems," said Rola, moving closer to her. Hanan felt suddenly protective of her. "Does it happen very much?"

"Once in awhile," said Hanan. "She thinks I should be some perfect Arabic girl, you know, that I should enjoy making cookies and looking for a husband." (page 91)

Muaddi Darraj does a wonderful job moving between the characters and the stories, giving each a distinctive voice. The stories flowed so beautifully and read so easily that it wasn't long before I turned the last page, and it was sad, feeling like I'd closed the door on old friends. I don't know what it's like to live with immigrant parents (my mom was 3 when she moved to the U.S. from Germany and doesn't remember anything about her life there), nor do I know what it's like to feel like I don't belong, but Muaddi Darraj made it easy to connect with and feel for her characters. This is one of those few books I could read again and again.

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I might not have known what to say when I briefly met Susan at the pre-conference reading, but I had no problem asking her questions via email, and Susan graciously answered them all!

Is The Inheritance of Exile inspired by personal experience?

Everyone asks me this, and the answer is yes and no. "Yes" in the sense that it is set in a neighborhood where I grew up--the St. Nicholas of Tolentine parish on 9th and Watkins Streets in South Philly--but "no" in that none of the events in the lives of the characters happened to me or to anyone I know. Of course, generational conflicts, intercultural tensions are things that I experienced, too, but not in the specific ways that my characters did.

Which of the characters, if any, are you most like? Has your family been supportive of your need to write about the immigrant experience and clashes between immigrants and their American children?

I guess I am most like Aliyah, the one who is a writer. Again, though, I have a father--unlike Aliyah's--who encouraged me to write, without limitations on subject. He was and is always supportive of what I do. I guess in Aliyah's story, I tried to imagine, "What if I did NOT have that support? How would things be different?"

I come from a family of readers: my father is a literary reader, and he especially loves poetry. I have said in the past that he used to walk around the house, doing chores, etc., and just recite passages of Arabic poetry from memory. My mother is more of a nonfiction reader, and she taught me how to read--how to put words and sounds together--when I was a child, before I even started school. She used to read books to my brothers and me all the time, take us to the library on a regular basis. My father always told us stories at night, before bedtime, stories that he would make up to entertain us.

What is your favorite story in the book? Was there one that was harder to write or more personal than the others?

Probably "The Journey Home" was most difficult to write. I had to stretch my imagination there, because Hanan has such a tense relationship with her mother, whereas for me, my mother and I are quite like best friends.

Do you have a particular writing routine? Where is your favorite place to write?

Right now, I have two toddlers at home and a third baby on the way, so my writing/reading time has been traded away for Eric Carle and Dr.Seuss books! I do snatch away some writing time during the Christmas holiday and summertime, when I am not teaching. Once in a while, I go back to my old routine, which was getting up early--by 5am--and writing until 8am or so... that was always my favorite time and most productive time.

What is the best book you've read this year?

The Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

Are you working on another book? If so, could you give us a hint as to what it's about?

I'm halfway through a novel, although it is still "forming"--I may cut out a lot of what I have already written as it gels.

Any advice to aspiring novelists?

Just write a lot and read even more. Reading is the best education for a writer. It's also useful to read magazines of the writing profession, like Poets & Writers and The Writer's Chronicle, which often have terrific essays on craft.

Susan, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions! I wish you the best in your writing endeavors! And congratulations on the new baby!

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If you'd like a chance to win a signed copy of Susan Muaddi Darraj's The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly, please leave a comment on this post and include your email address. (If I don't have a way to contact you, either through email or a blog, your entry won't be counted!) The giveaway is open internationally and will end at midnight EST on Dec. 17.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of The Inheritance of Exile: Stories From South Philly from a writer's conference.  I was not obligated to review it.