Between Two Kingdoms

Chapter 5 begins by introducing Suleika’s parents, Anne and Hédi, whom she has always called by their first names. Anne grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, and moved to New York City in the 1980s to be a painter. To pay for rent she started a language school out of her apartment and painted houses. Suleika’s father, Hédi, originally from Tunisia, taught at the United Nations International School and translated Arabic and French on the side.

Her parents passed down their bohemian values to their children. As a child, Suleika and her family moved from New York City to the Adirondacks to France, Switzerland, and Tunisia. They always returned to the US. Her father became a professor in upstate New York, and the family settled there. Her mother continued painting, but her creativity flourishes as a mother. Suleika’s childhood included bedtime stories and playing with paints. She always felt close to her mother, telling her everything. She revered her father and grew closer to him in high school and college through their shared love of literature. When she graduates from college with high honors and several thesis prizes, her father offers “a rare vocal display of parental pride” (40).

Her parents gave her a red suitcase with swivel wheels as a graduation gift.