The Jasmine Exile - Khawla Hamdi

When they talked about the subject of travel for the first time, her mother Fatima spoke with a touch of philosophy. She told her about the jasmine plant that gave her her name. Like jasmine, she raised her to be content and satisfied with little. For it is a plant that does not need much care. A single application of fertilizer in the spring of each year is enough for it, along with moist soil without excessive watering. All 

About the Book

When they talked about the subject of travel for the first time, her mother Fatima spoke with a touch of philosophy. She told her about the jasmine plant that gave her her name. Like jasmine, she raised her to be content and satisfied with little. For it is a plant that does not need much care. A single application of fertilizer in the spring of each year is enough for it, along with moist soil without excessive watering. All types of jasmine prefer to grow in a sunny place, but they can tolerate some shade. The Tunisian sun was favorable to her growth and the formation of her personality, and she became ready to endure some of the shadows of cold-climate Europe. Like the Mediterranean white jasmine, she was delicate in appearance, but her personality was strong and steadfast, like the intense and unique scent of jasmine that conveys a sense of warmth that other flowers do not possess. She did not speak about the emotional significance of jasmine that Yasmine had searched for since she became interested in the meanings of flowers at the beginning of her adolescence. She knew that gifting a jasmine flower to a woman meant “Why don’t you ever love?”. Her father had gifted her, Yasmine, to her mother. It was his last gift to her when he abandoned her care after the divorce. And she “never loved after that.” She was worthy of receiving the jasmine flower. Her mother misses her more every day. As time passes, she becomes more certain of her loss without her. She knew that exile was not an easy experience, yet she agreed to travel. She taught her how to be a true jasmine. But perhaps she overlooked a bitter truth. A jasmine flower wilts quickly when it leaves its soil and is arranged in a beautiful “bouquet”

About the Author

Khawla Hamdi

An author and university professor, born in Tunisia in 1984. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a doctorate in operations research from the University of Technology in France. Khawla entered the world of writing with the book “Youthful Dreams,” published in 2006, in which she recounted the memoirs of a Muslim girl. Her second work, “An Hebrewi Girl in My Heart,” was published in 2016, telling the story of a Tunisian Jewish girl who converted to Islam. The work is considered inspired by a true story and became a bestseller, with more than 47 editions published