The first well

The First Well is an autobiographical account of Jabra's boyhood in Bethlehem, where he was born in 1920, and later in Jerusalem, where he moved at age twelve with his parents. Through the eyes and heart of a sensitive, highly imaginative boy, Jabra describes the first sources of his artistic sensibility - the houses, fields, and orchards of his childhood and the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The First Well is the story of his intellectual and spiritual growth nurtured and encouraged by his family, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his teachers. His story…