Garnet Publishing has acquired the world rights to The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti.
This beautifully written and compelling novel is a tale of  two Palestinian brothers, one full of anger and hate, and one trying to build a bridge through scientific endeavour.
The book vividly brings to life the everyday experiences of Palestinians displaced by the Israeli occupation.  The first person narrative draws the reader into the story of a twelve year old boy, Ichmad, whose life is about to be turned upside down. 
With his father imprisoned, his family’s home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings quickly succumbing to anger and hatred in the face of war, Ichmad begins his endless struggle to save his poor and dying family, and to reclaim a love for others that was lost when the bombs first hit. 
Ichmad supports his family through manual labour, first on a building site and later in an abbatoir.  Eventually his brilliance in science wins him a scholarship to University, where he encounters both prejudice and opportunity.  His brother disowns him as he mixes with Israelis, and even marries a Jewish girl, but against all the odds, Ichmad succeeds in transcending racial and religious stereotypes, and is judged on his abilities and ideas, to the point where he receives the ultimate accolade of a Nobel Prize.
The book conveys a powerful message of optimism, courage and hope in the face of conflict, anger, hatred and tragedy, and is a highly uplifting and absorbing read.
 
Michelle Cohen Corasanti is a former lawyer, trained in international human rights law.  Her knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle comes from seven years of living in Israel, where she witnessed at first hand the struggles of the Palestinians, and heard their stories of one-room mud houses with no electricity, fathers imprisoned for decades, illiterate mothers unable to provide for their children, and small boys giving up school for manual labour.  She married her Arab-Israeli husband in a traditional village wedding, and it was his story – of an incredible intelligence which took him out of the Middle East – that sparked her inspiration for The Almond Tree.