What Remains

Described as “a love letter to Jerusalem,” the historically significant The Bells of Memory: A Palestinian Boyhood in Jerusalem chronicles the life of someone raised in the holy city during the period of political upheaval that led to the establishment of Israel and the dispossession of the Palestinians following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine on May 14, 1948. The title itself is evocative of a city where the Palestinian presence continues to diminish, yet where ringing reminders of a distant past remain ubiquitous, in this case, for an octogenarian who now calls Montreal home.

Writing in eloquent prose, Issa Boullata’s heartfelt recollections of his formative years are vivid. As the eldest of six children, he describes his childhood in a loving, patriarchal and Orthodox Christian household with parents who did their utmost to shield their children from any feelings of insecurity amid the climate of fear that prevailed.

A gleeful...