Novel set between GAZA and CHICAGO

28th September 2026

Every Exit Brings You Home by Naeem Murr, novel set between GAZA and CHICAGO

A moving journey of exile, identity and belonging

Naeem Murr’s Every Exit Brings You Home is a beautifully written, thought-provoking novel that combines the personal and the political with such skill and empathy. This deeply humane and emotional novel looks into the themes of displacement, identity, community and the persistent pull of home (as in where you are born).

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Set between a Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza and a run-down condominium building in Chicago, the narrative centres around Jamal “Jack” Shaban, a Palestinian immigrant who has carefully constructed a life in America with his wife, Dimra. He is almost leading a double life, keeping his wife secret from colleagues and pretending to be of a different sexual orientation in order to fit in, he also serves as unofficial peacemaker in his financially troubled condo building.

As the narrative unfolds, we find ourselves moving between today’s Chicago and Jack’s and Dimra’s memories of Gaza in the 1980s. These flashbacks shine a light on the emotional landscape that Jack carries with him and explain the loneliness and yearning that define his adult life.

His flaws, desires, disappointments and acts of kindness reflect Jack and Dimra’s struggles to have a family, and their constant guilt about their own families who have been left behind in a war-torn Gaza. The supporting cast, from the bitter neighbour, May, who makes his life a living hell with her constant complains, to a fellow flight attendant, Birdy, with whom he falls in love, to Marcia, a new inhabitant he forms a superficial relationship with, all add texture to the story, adding compassion and hardship all at the same time.

What makes this novel especially memorable is the abiding paradox: that leaving home doesn’t mean we are free of it or its memories. Every time he tries to reinvent himself simply brings him back to the people and experiences that shaped him.

Rich in atmosphere, empathy and emotional depth, Every Exit Brings You Home offers a moving portrait of Palestinian identity, immigrant experience and the universal search for belonging. This is a highly recommended read.

Val for the TripFiction Team

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