The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man returns with a striking
exploration of the expectations of Palestinian-American women the meaning of a fulfilling life
and the ways our unresolved pasts affect our presents. Raised in a conservative and emotionally
volatile Palestinian family in Brooklyn Yara thought she would finally feel free when she
married a charming entrepreneur who took her to the suburbs. She's gotten to follow her dreams
completing an undergraduate degree in Art and landing a good job at the local college. As a
traditional wife she also raises their two school-aged daughters takes care of the house and
has dinner ready when her husband gets home. With her family balanced with her professional
ambitions Yara knows that her life is infinitely more rewarding than her own mother's. So why
doesn't it feel like enough? After her dream of chaperoning a student trip to Europe evaporates
and she responds to a colleague's racist provocation Yara is put on probation at work and must
attend mandatory counseling to keep her position. Her mother blames a family curse for the
trouble she's facing and while Yara doesn't really believe in old superstitions she still
finds herself growing increasingly uneasy with her mother's warning and the possibility of
falling victim to the same mistakes. Shaken to the core by these indictments of her life Yara
finds her carefully constructed world beginning to implode. To save herself Yara must reckon
with the reality that the difficulties of the childhood she thought she left behind have very
real?and damaging?implications not just on her own future but that of her daughters.
