Evil Eye
A Novel
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- 23,99 €
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- 23,99 €
Publisher Description
An NPR Best Book of the Year · A Time Magazine Most Anticipated Book of the Year
“A moving meditation on motherhood, intergenerational trauma and how surface appearances often obscure a deeper truth. . . . A stunning second novel from a writer who set the bar very high with her first!”—Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics and Community Board
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man returns with a striking exploration of the expectations of a Palestinian-American woman, the meaning of a fulfilling life, and the ways our unresolved pasts affect our presents.
Yara Murad has worked hard to outrun the demons of her tumultuous Brooklyn childhood. Now living far from home, Yara has achieved everything she aspired to: She is highly educated and teaches art to college student. She's also raising two daughters with her businessman husband, Fadi. Her marriage is nothing like her parents' high-conflict relationship, and she knows her life is worlds better and freer than her mother’s.
So why doesn’t it feel that way? Why does Yara experience flashes of anger out of nowhere or a sadness she can’t name? When an incident at the college threatens her job, her mother suggests that a family curse could be to blame. While Yara doesn’t believe in old superstitions, she's shaken as she finds her carefully constructed world beginning to implode. To save herself, Yara must finally confront the childhood she thought she’d left behind and forge her own path forward.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A universal portrait of motherhood and intergenerational trauma, Rum's sophomore effort (after the bestselling A Woman Is No Man) tells the story of North Carolina–based college art teacher and graphic designer Yara, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Yara longs to travel, but her husband Fadi insists she stay home with their two young children. Then Yara is on the receiving end of a racist comment made by a woman colleague: "Please don't take this the wrong way but it's no secret that women from your country experience severe sexism and misogyny," to which Yara responds, "I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., you fucking racist." The incident results in her suspension from the college, and she's mandated to counseling, where her therapist helps her unpack her family history. While Yara's mother has always insisted their family is cursed, Yara's therapy work leads her to realize that the cause of her woes is not fantastical, but rather the generational cycle of obedience: "Why was she... waiting for a man to give her permission," Yara wonders about herself. The fierce feminist sentiments and nuanced approach to Yara's fraught marriage and family history make for a winning combination. This satisfies on multiple levels.
