Inside The House of Blessings

Inside the House of Blessings and Other Stories about Egypt & Palestine (61,900 words), a collection of stories focusing on the Middle East, is about teens and young adults. From numbers alone, Arab world youth is a force to consider. As they reach adolescence, they inevitably face normal but embarrassing situations as part of their growth.

Not enough has been written inside the culture to better understand and normalize these growth steps. As a clinical child psychologist by training and practice, I’ve lived in Egypt and other places in the Islamic world for decades. These stories provide personal insights and thought-provoking ideas for youth within and beyond cultural boundaries.

Inside the House of Blessings and Other Stories about Egypt & Palestine introduces the Muslim World where solutions to modern problems often challenge traditional norms. While these stories don’t threaten tradition, they raise important issues like a tribal feud, polygamy and going against parental whishes in a refreshing and psychologically sensitive way.

These stories delve into the inner emotional worlds of the characters because by describing and normalizing the full range of emotions, everyone is better prepared to accept these emotions, and to defang them so better decision-making can occur.