By Marcelle Mansour
On Tuesday, April 12th, 2016, I attended the book launch of ‘A Lover’s Country’, at Gleebooks – Glebe. The author of the book, Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees AM signed his book ‘A Lover’s Country’. Mary Kostakidis, the former weeknight SBS World News Australia presenter launched the book, with music plus a Q & A session. The music was played by one of the finest female Sydney singers Abby Dobson, and The MC was performed by Mr. James Ross.
At the event, I was keen to be the first person sitting on the front raw while watching, listening and observing the whole A & Q session between Professor Stuart Rees and Mary Kostakidis. Professor Rees read an extract from his book in chapter 31 titled ‘Fadeela Answers Back’, in which Fadeela’s character referred to Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who is a distinguished Palestinian leader and an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, and the receiver of Sydney Peace Award. I was positively and attentively listening to Professor Rees’ voice while he was reading the dialogue between Ashrawi and the producer of an Australian current affairs radio programme. I admired the way he was expressing his thoughts, opinions, and feelings, especially in those words Fadeela said: “Security is a by-product of peace. All our lives we have lived without just peace. Therefore no security, seeking a just peace is a struggle. p251”. This was culminated by the discussion of A & Q between him and Mary Kostakidis, where I found Professor Stuart Rees to be a real charismatic leader who has extremely an affecting and inspiring person with a unique charisma. For his novel of A Lover’s Country touches on the great love that people may spread when struggling for the rights of others.
A recent Amazon review described the book as ‘… the story of how power works to stop inconvenient truths from being told.’ The title of the novel is taken from the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish who wrote about the plight of his people but imagined that one day, even from stone; a lover’s country could be built.
Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees AM signed his book ‘A Lover’s Country’ that is a novel based on the Palestinian reality and is an invitation for peace with justice. ‘A Lover’s Country’ by Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees AM is certainly of an investing value and is a must-read.
It can be read about the book under Amazon sight under Books, Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, link :
https://www.amazon.com/Lovers-Country-Stuart-Rees/dp/1785547305
(In the course of their passionate relationship, Tom Markson and his much younger Jewish lover Naomi Branath support a Palestinian leader, Fadeela Qubra who has been awarded an international prize for peace and who knows the details of a murder and a massacre. Fierce opponents of Dr. Qubra want her story suppressed and the award to her canceled. Tom and Naomi find the courage and the stamina to resist the opposition and eventually enable Fadeela to leave Ramallah, fly to Australia to tell her story and receive her award. Despite death threats and opposition from powerful lobbies, human rights are upheld, love triumphs and the story is told. Told with a compelling immediacy, A Lover’s Country sheds light on the intrigue, struggle and behind-the-scenes wrangling associated with the nomination of a Palestinian woman as the recipient of a major peace prize. With a cast of memorable characters, a tightly crafted plot and touches of memorable poetry, A Lover’s Country is an illuminating tale of justice with a hard-won message of hope. In particular, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the current plight of the Palestinians, Arab Israeli relations, and the presentation of these questions by the Western media. William Lane Author of the highly acclaimed novels, Over the Water and The Horses This is a beautifully written and engaging story. It traces the kind of love that can only develop when people fight for the rights of others and never waver despite incessant and dangerous opposition. In events set largely in San Francisco, London, Sydney, Jerusalem, and Ramallah, that opposition includes powerful politicians and a compliant media who try to stifle accounts of a murder and a massacre. In spite of the pressures which confront them, the leading characters weather the storms and show how courage defeats compromise, principle overcomes pragmatism and how the passion of gutsy individuals lives up to the ideals of A Lover’s Country. Adam Courtenay Author of the dramatic, revealing history Amazon Men.)