The Shape of Dust (Lamisse Hamouda & Hazem Hamouda, Pantera)

Father-daughter duo Lamisse and Hazem Hamouda’s debut memoir The Shape of Dust is an impactful picture of one ordinary Australian-Egyptian family’s experience as victims of a human rights violation. The book opens in the pandemonium of the Cairo International Airport, as Hazem is arrested due to mistaken identity before being detained for 433 days without charges in the infamous Egyptian Tora prison. Hazem’s experience is a painful reminder of the precarious security of people of colour’s existence. As the daughter of migrants, I found the authors’ deliberate use of both English and Arabic dialogue ‘to work across multiple languages and worlds’ spoke to both my Egyptian and Australian sides in a powerful echo. Lamisse brings the reader back to familiar territory with odes to her Brisbane multi-generational home and chatting about human rights violations ‘over burgers in Newtown’—a welcome contrast to the horrors of unjust incarceration. With Hazem’s co-authored sections ceasing mid-novel, Lamisse carries on with integrity to ‘mak[e] visible those being made invisible’. All while the Egyptian media call her the ‘Lying Daughter of the Muslim Brotherhood’. As the story unfolds between Australia and Egypt, the narrative highlights two important things: the universal humanity of prisoners and the power of recording silenced injustices. The Shape of Dust is an integral read that shares the stories beyond the human rights violations of media headlines and belongs on every bookshelf.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Eman X is as an Australian-Egyptian emerging writer based on Gadigal land. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews