Evil Eye
A Novel
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4.3 • 50 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An NPR Best Book of the Year
“A moving meditation on motherhood, inter-generational 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.
"After Yara is placed on probation at work for fighting with a racist coworker, her Palestinian mother claims the provocation and all that’s come after were the result of a family curse. While Yara doesn’t believe in old superstitions, she finds herself unpacking her strict, often volatile childhood growing up in Brooklyn, looking for clues as to why she feels so unfulfilled in a life her mother could only dream of. Etaf Rum’s follow-up to her 2019 debut, A Woman Is No Man, is a complicated mother-daughter drama that looks at the lasting effects of intergenerational trauma and what it takes to break the cycle of abuse." —Time magazine, "The Most Anticipated Books of the Year"
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.
Customer Reviews
A Must Read!
Yara Murad is a Palestinian American woman, whose parents immigrated from Palestine to New York, but she was born and raised in Brooklyn. This book gives us a glimpse of what life was like for Yara through an arranged marriage, being the first in her family to get a college education, to having kids, to working at a college to ultimately losing her job and going through a divorce.
A beautifully written book that highlights the struggles of balancing Yara’s Palestinian culture and American life. Yara ultimately had to prioritize her own mental health with the help of a therapist and friend in order to create the life she wanted for herself and her girls. This author does a good job of putting the reader in Yara’s shoes! Such a thought provoking book! I really enjoyed this book!