Activist Memoir in Review: They Called Me a Lioness

Summary: This was a good book to begin learning about Palestine with its simply written blend of memoir and history.

This is the second memoir I’ve read recently that is by a political activist and named after a big cat (the other being Year of the Tiger). I enjoyed both of these books and think activist memoirs may be a good subgenre for me. I found this pair both inspiring and informative. This memoir is about Ahed Tamimi, a young Palestinian woman who was jailed for activism at only 16 years old.

The prose in this book was plain and to the point. I might have had more fun reading a more beautifully written book, but I think the prose served the story well. The way Ahed and her family are treated by the Israeli army is pretty horrifying. It didn’t need any dramatization and the simple prose let the events speak for themselves. I also came away with the impression that Ahed is a very serious, dedicated young woman.

I’ve not done any prior reading specifically on modern day Palestine, so I appreciated that this book included some basic history of the region. I’d certainly like to read more on that topic, as this overview had to be fairly brief to fit within a memoir. Despite the relatively short length though, I felt like it was good intro with its mix of the personal and the historical.

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