Sarit Gradwohl

Hamama Sarit Gradwohl

Hamama is the memoir of a spirited girl fighting to find her place in 1930s Yemen. It traces her arduous journey to the Land of Israel and the many challenges she faces in the struggling new country. When Hamama is a young girl, her family takes in the recently-orphaned Hassan, who beguiles her with tales his mother once told him, tales of the Promised Land. When a famine causes turmoil and fear for Jews in Yemen, the Land of Israel represents a new start in a place that celebrates the Jewish people. The memoir unfolds as a romance between Hamama and Hassan, the dramatic history of the family they create together, and the story of the traditional Yemenite Jews trying to carve out a place in the newly-formed state. With fewer than one hundred Jews left in Yemen, the ancient, beautiful culture of Yemenite Jewry is coming to an end. This memoir is a rare document that combines the historical with the personal, told with heart by author Sarit Gradwohl, Hamama's real-life granddaughter.