The Arab And The Brit: The Last Of The Welcome Immigrants [Hardcover]

Born of a Palestinian father and a British mother, Rezak has always been intrigued by the different worlds from which his parents came. His fathers ancestors were highwaymen on the Arabian Peninsula in the eighteenth century. They sparred unsuccessfully with ruling Ottoman Turks and escaped with their families to America. His mothers parents were sent separately from Great Britain into indentured servitude in Canada, alone at the ages of ten and sixteen. They worked off their servitude, met, married, and moved to New York State. In The Arab and the Brit, a memoir that spans multiple generations and countries, Rezak traces the remarkable lives of his ancestors. Narrating their experiences against the backdrop of two world wars and an emerging modern Middle East, the author gives readers a textured and vivid immigrant story.

Rezak recalls his paternal grandmother apprehending would-be Russian saboteurs during World War I, his grandfathers time at Dr. Bernardos home, a shelter for destitute children, and his fathers work with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association following World War II. Told with humor and captivating detail, The Arab and the Brit chronicles the trials and triumphs of one familys struggle to succeed in the New World.