Enter Ghost

The novel continues in script format. The actors gather at Mariam’s apartment for rehearsal. While they wait, Wael asks Sonia what her family’s “Nakba story” is, meaning what happened to her family during the expulsion of Arabs during and following the creation of the Jewish nation of Israel in 1948. Sonia says she isn’t sure. Mariam, Haneen, and Ibrahim arrive. The actors rehearse the scene where Hamlet accuses his mother, Gertrude, of plotting to kill his father and then kills Polonius, Ophelia’s father.

In conventional first-person narrative form, Sonia reflects on her family’s Nakba story. On April 22, 1948, soon after Sonia’s father was born, the Israeli state was officially formed. Despite the dangers for them as an Arab family, they decided to stay in their home in Haifa. From the balcony, Sonia’s grandmother watched the Palestinians fleeing. She saw a woman in the crowd drop her baby. When the man beside her picked up the bundle, they realized it was a pillow; they had left behind the baby. They could not go back for it because the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary forces, were pursuing them. Sonia’s family was able to keep their house because they stayed in the home, unlike many other Palestinians.

Sonia tells Mariam she wants to see her grandparents’ house before they leave Haifa. Mariam agrees. They run into Salim, Mariam’s brother while standing outside the house. He promises to help Mariam get funding for the play. While they talk, the Jewish man who now owns the house comes out. Sonia tells him that her family used to live there, and they came to see it out of nostalgia. He retorts, “You can keep your nostalgia quiet,” and tells them to leave (188). As they drive away, Mariam tells Sonia that Salim and Haneen are very close.

On the radio, while driving back to Ramallah, there is word that unrest is brewing in Jerusalem over the shutdown of the mosque area and the installation of metal detectors at the entrance. Sonia tells Mariam she’s decided that Gertrude is “sort of half-complicit” in the murder of Hamlet’s father by Claudius (191). Mariam tells Sonia she needs to work on making her formal Arabic sound more natural. She asks if Sonia has ever wanted children because “motherhood is important in the play” (192). Sonia tells Mariam about her abortion and lost pregnancy. Afterward, Mariam hugs her, but Sonia feels “raw” from being so vulnerable.

Sonia remembers how after she lost her pregnancy, she had vaginal pain. She went to see a Jewish physiotherapist named Shoshana. One day, Shoshana asked, “Does it still hurt when your husband touches you?” (195). Sonia was wary because she did not wear a wedding ring and had never mentioned a husband. She never returned to the practice. Lying in her bed in Ramallah, Sonia wonders if Shoshana was trying to figure out if her Arab last name was hers from birth or marriage. She thinks about the last time she saw Marco; it was at a stage production of Wide Sargasso Sea, and he was there with a woman named Piya.

Sonia texts her mother, who tells her to “be careful.” The next morning, the news reports that hundreds of people were praying in the streets outside Al-Aqsa mosque in protest of the restrictions. Mariam and Sonia go to the theater, where Mariam presents her stage designs. She explains that they will stage the play in Bethlehem near the division wall that separates Israel from the West Bank. The set is quite large and dramatic. Her brother, Anwar, designed it, and her brother, Salim, is helping with the funding. While she talks, Ibrahim lets Sonia know that a “day of rage” is planned at al-Aqsa, and he is worried.

Amin arrives late and in a sour mood from being held for over an hour at the checkpoint. He trips Wael during an entrance and then storms off. Eventually, Mariam gets the cast back together and temporarily smooths things over. After rehearsal, Sonia calls her father, Nabil, and asks him about his involvement in the resistance. He is reluctant to talk about it and says, “Palestine is gone. We lost her a long time ago” (210). When she tells him about the Jewish man in her grandparent’s house, Nabil laughs and says Sonia is like a ghost haunting the man.

Later, Mariam returns home and tells Sonia they have found a young actor named Jenan to play Ophelia. Sonia is relieved.

Sonia wakes up to an email from the director, Harold, about his production of Hamlet and wishing her luck with her performance as Gertrude. Sonia is surprised to see there has been a news story covering the “outrage” about their upcoming production of Hamlet. Mariam admits that she had hoped to have money to fund the work from Kuwait and Qatar through her brother, Salim. She says they are trying to build a Palestinian cultural organization that operates throughout the West Bank, Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Sonia says “they” (the Israeli security services) won’t like that.

Mariam, Sonia, George, and Wael go to Bethlehem. They meet Ibrahim, Faris, and Amin there. The enormous set with its dramatic chandelier awes the cast. Mariam introduces everyone to the new actor, Jenan. Sonia thinks she looks “perfect” for the role of Ophelia. Majed arrives late. The Israeli security forces summoned him for interrogation. Mariam seems worried, but they continue rehearsal. During a break, Sonia goes to find a bathroom with Jenan. They chat, and Sonia tells Jenan that if Jenan hadn’t come, Sonia would have had to play both Ophelia and Gertrude. Jenan seems surprised by this news.

Later, Wael and Ibrahim are practicing a combat scene when they hear shouting, screaming, and “cracks of tear gas” (229). They are under attack from the Israeli forces. The cast runs. Ibrahim, Jenan, Mariam, and George end up driving back to Ramallah together. While eating dinner, Anwar arrives. He tells Mariam that Wael and Amin had a big fight, and Wael is quitting the play. No one can contact Wael. The group talks about how the Israelis found out about the funding scheme. George makes it clear he doesn’t like Sonia. He insinuates she might have informed on them.