When I was a Girl and not very Pretty: Hasna’s story

It is the momentous year of 1917; the end of four hundred years of Ottoman Rule, the beginning of the British Mandate, and marks the birth of Salma’s seventeenth child - Hasna. Not only is Hasna a girl born into a society that prizes boys, she is cursed with red hair, blue eyes and freckles. They set her apart, leave her excluded, and are viewed with suspicion in a society where superstitions are a part of daily life. Her father refers to her only as the girl; even her mother acknowledges that Hasna is not very pretty. Still, Hasna is smart, capable and hardworking - tenacious of life, though married off at thirteen and a half to a boy she has never seen, she finds love and contentment in marriage, motherhood and family. Peasants never have it easy, and this tumultuous time in Palestine’s history certainly makes life harder. Life is uncertain and tragic, but also filled with love, laughter and stories.