Cactus Pear for My Beloved cover art

Cactus Pear for My Beloved

A Family Story from Gaza

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Cactus Pear for My Beloved

By: Samah Sabawi
Narrated by: Samah Sabawi
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About this listen

Samah Sabawi shares the story of her parents and many like them who were born as their parents were being forced to leave their homelands.

Filled with love for land, history, and people, it is more than anything else—a family story and a love story told with enormous humanity and feeling. How the son (one of six), born at the height of the displacements to a disabled father and illiterate mother, a believer in peaceful resistance, became a leading poet and writer in Palestine, before being forced, with his own young family in tow, to flee and start a new life in Australia.

One of the gifts of Samah Sabawi's Baba is to remain open-hearted and optimistic.

2025, The Stella Prize, Short-listed
2025, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Short-listed

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Samah Sabawi (P)2024 Penguin Random House Australia Audio Cultural & Regional Israel & Palestine Middle East Poetry Heartfelt
All stars
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I really enjoyed reading this book , it made me laugh and it made me cry also got me on my feet , As a reader, I was profoundly moved by how Sabawi weaves themes of love, identity, loss, and exile into her story .
Also loved the sense of humour.
It left me with a deeper appreciation for the struggle, survival, and tenderness found in the journey of life ,
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for poetry that is both heart-wrenching and beautiful.
Absolutely worth reading, thank you Samah for sharing your dad’s Journey.
Looking forward for more to come .

Poetry of Love, Loss, and Resistance

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An authentic family story - the love, the humour and the tragic - the reader is invited to share all of it and feel the terror of the wars, the displacement and being made a refugee in your own homeland …

So much we didn’t know …

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There are moments of happiness, joy, sadness and grief. All beautifully woven together into the authors family history and the history of Palestine from a personal perspective.

A beautiful heartfelt moments of great story

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Great introduction to what happen to our beloved countries and the occupation of what can be brutal and unfair to citizens of the country

Culture, history, story telling

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Thank you Samah for the sharing your father's story and reflecting the struggles, pain and injustice of a beautiful nation that was shamefully abandoned by its sister nations and the world.

A heartfelt journey

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Everybody should read this heartwarming and at times heartbreaking story. The author has put in so much time to the writing and research.

Beautifully narrated

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Poetic descriptions of place & characters that transport you through the life of Samah’s father growing up in Palestine. Hard to stop listening!

Beautiful story of hope & life in Palestine

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What I particularly loved about this book is that it tells a story rooted in joy. While Palestinian resilience in the face of endless suffering is unmatched, this story stands out for its focus on the quiet beauty of everyday life—love, connection, and the simplicity of being. It reminds us that even under occupation, palestenians found space for tenderness, laughter, and hope.

A families story told so beautifully.

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I’ve tried to persevere with the story but it’s tedious and flimsy in detail.
I really tried to finish the book but just can’t.
The narrator, the author, I’m not sure is ideal as at times it was difficult to discern between the characters.

Tedious

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.