Evil Eye

With a compelling examination of Palestinian-American women's expectations, what it means to live a fulfilling life, and how our unresolved pasts impact our present, the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man makes a triumphant comeback.

Yara was raised in a traditional and emotionally unstable Palestinian family in Brooklyn, so she assumed that when she married an attractive entrepreneur and moved to the suburbs, she would finally feel free. She was able to fulfill her aspirations by earning an art undergraduate degree and securing a prestigious position at the nearby institution. She takes care of the house, raises their two school-age girls, and prepares dinner for her husband when he gets home—all the duties of a typical wife. With her career goals and family in harmony, Yara is aware that her life is far more fulfilling than her mother's. Why then does it not seem sufficient?

Yara is placed on probation at work and is required to undergo required counseling in order to maintain her career after her dream of chaperoning a student trip to Europe vanishes and she reacts to a colleague's racial provocation. Even though Yara doesn't truly believe in outdated superstitions, she can't help but feel uneasy at her mother's accusation that there is a family curse behind her problems and that she might make the same mistakes again.

Yara is completely rocked by these accusations against her life and discovers that her carefully built world is starting to fall apart. In order to save herself, Yara has to face the fact that her children' futures as well as her own are seriously jeopardized by the challenges of the upbringing she believed she left behind.