Resistance literature has been principally defined with regard to its historical context. However, to arrive at a detailed understanding of its characteristics and strategies, we may need to examine its literary tropes and themes. How does such a genre work as literature? I am proposing to look at resistance literature through the lens of the historical novel. Indeed, through my reading of Radwa Ashour's Granada Trilogy, this paper will examine the role of allegory in historical narrative, as well as explore the theme of loss. Loss of the homeland is a recurring theme in historical narratives from the Arab world; el-Ghitani's and Maalouf's historical fictions also come to mind. It may be an incarnation of collective trauma, which becomes constitutive of national identity. Thus, as a literary motif, it can help us understand the role of national allegory in literature. This paper will also draw on Ashour's critical writings, as well as her fictionalized autobiography, Specters, to examine such questions. It will propose reading strategies which give allegory due attention, without subsuming the work of fiction within it. By unraveling questions around historical narratives, the theme of loss and the significance of allegory, I will attempt to lay the ground for a theoretical definition of resistance literature.