Introducing a brave, new Arab-American voice, an unflinching debut novel that takes us inside a world where few of us have been before: the lives of conservative Arab women living in America.
In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her fragile community.
Set in an America that may feel removed yet is all too close at hand, A Woman Is No Man is both a gripping page-turner and an intimate family portrait. Fans of The Kite Runner and Everything I Never Told You will be drawn to this powerful novel.
- "He recited a verse, in Arabic: “Heaven lies under a mother’s feet.” The words meant nothing to her. She didn’t have a mother. ...… “It’s a metaphor,” Brother Hakeen said, “to reminds us of the importance of our women. When we accept that heaven lies underneath the feet of a woman, we are more respec"
- ""Listen to me, daughter. No matter how far away from Palestine you go, a woman will always be a woman. Here or there. Location will not change her naseeb, her destiny.""
- "She couldn't help but laugh. As if it mattered what she wanted. As if it were up to her. If it were up to her, she'd postpone marriage for another decade. She'd enroll in a study-abroad program, pick up and move to Europe, perhaps Oxford, spending her days in cafes and libraries with a book in one h"
- "Adam gave her a pitying look. “We have to live carefully here, Isra. People flee to America from war-torn countries every day. Some are Arabs. Some are Muslims. Some are both, like us. But we could live here for the rest of ours lives and never be Americans. You think you’re doing the right thing by"
- "Isra didn’t know what to think, eyeing the familiar faces floating down Fifth Avenue. These people were just like them, living in America and trying to fit in. Yet they still wore their hijabs; they didn’t change who they were. So why did Adam insist that she change who she was? After a long time wa"
- "Fareeda shook her head. “There are things you have to learn for yourself, things no book will ever teach you.”"
- "The atmosphere shifted. Khaled shook his head. “That’s the price of coming to this country,” he said. “Abandoning our land and running away. Not a moment goes by when I don’t think of what we’ve done. Maybe we should’ve stayed and fought for our home. So what if the soldiers had killed us? So what i"
- "“Look at me,” said Fareeda. “I might not know many things in life, but of this I am certain. You need to put the past behind you in order to move on. Believe me, this I know.”"
