Critical Acclaim
Shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize.
Praise
“Nada Samih-Rotondo’s memoir is a dazzling, necessary act of storytelling. Through generations of memory, myth, science, history, and her own coming-of-age, this lyrical work is an act of immense love and resistance. We become witnesses, not only to Palestine’s complex, violent occupation and the cruel displacement of millions, but we learn the profound beauty of the land, the scents, water, and the everyday moments, imprinted forever on foremothers. Even in their struggle to be free of forces beyond their control, they can never forget all they’ve survived, and after reading this book, neither will we.”
— Tanaïs, author of In Sensorium: Notes for My People
“All Water has Perfect Memory is a coming-of-age memoir that takes the reader on a fast-paced journey from 1940s Palestine to 1980s Kuwait to present-day Rhode Island. In this engaging read, Samih-Rotondo tackles themes of generational trauma, perpetual displacement, and the struggle of identity with grace, sensitivity, and thoughtful insight.”
— Layla AlAmmar, author of Silence is a Sense
“Deeply honest and intimate, Nada Samih-Rotundo’s memoir, ‘All Water Has Perfect Memory,’ is an enthralling and beautifully-crafted read, at turns poignant, humorous, and heartbreakingly resilient; Samih-Rotundo’s voice fuels a prose woven from memories and histories from all corners of her life, gorgeously capturing how her experience ‘lives on the borderlands of myth and dream’ from the desert of Kuwait to the shores of Rhode Island, and from the American suburbs to the American classroom—Samih-Rotondo’s journey toward self-knowledge and deep connection is a marvel.”
— Tina Cane, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island and author of Year of the Murder Hornet
“In her stunning debut memoir, Nada Samih-Rotondo defiantly recounts her journey from Kuwait to America, her fraught coming-of-age in a household continually on the brink of collapse, and her fight for self-possession in a society so eager to deny it. Samih’s spare yet evocative words gift us with the power of her tenacity and resilience and demands that we, too, must do our part in the fight against injustice.”
— Ly Ky Tran, author of House of Sticks
