Brave and bold, this gorgeously written work of fiction introduces a large cast of characters in a setting where violence is routine, even normal, and where survival is defined by boundaries, walls, and checkpoints that force people to live and love within and across them. Hamid has come into Israeli territory illegally for work. Rushing past soldiers, he bumps into Vera, a German journalist on her way to Jerusalem to cover the story of Salem, a Palestinian boy beat into a coma by a group of Israeli teenagers. Ori, a 19-year-old soldier, is from a nearby settlement. This afternoon, he is guarding the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, through which Samar—Hamid’s professor—must pass. Set in present-day Israel and Palestine, the novel follows characters of various backgrounds trying to protect what they love. Their interwoven stories reveal complicated, painful truths about life in the West Bank.