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Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

Contemporary fiction

Evil Eye

Repeat author

Etaf Rum is back at Book of the Month – other BOTMs include A Woman Is No Man.

by Etaf Rum

Excellent choice

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Quick take

Forced to confront past traumas and tensions between community and individuality, a woman attempts a personal reset.

Melancholy

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Emotional

    Emotional

  • Illustrated icon, Psychological

    Psychological

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Serious

    Serious

Synopsis

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.

Content warning

This book contains mentions of suicidal ideation.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of Evil Eye.

Evil Eye

PROLOGUE

YARA’S JOURNAL

I don’t know why I’m writing this. William said it would help me articulate myself to you, reconcile past and present. I need to go back there, need to find a way to reach you, but I don’t know how.

I’ve never been good with words. There are some things language cannot communicate.

Instead, I paint pictures in my mind. I build a white house with a colorful garden and a tranquil lake covered in emerald-green lily pads, then I put myself inside of it. The rooms are bright and airy, with big windows through which I watch the world. Outside, birds chirp and flowers bloom and everything feels calm beneath the wide, open sky. I close my eyes and paint more images, one stroke at a time, of sunflowers and sunsets and rooms full of books so I don’t have to be alone.

I’m trying to listen to William’s advice, to close my eyes and quiet the voices in my head. But when I begin to write down memories, attempt to lay them out in clear sentences, the words won’t connect. When I look back for you, my mind goes blank. I can’t describe it, this feeling I cannot name, this wound I cannot see. I feel it, though, like every bone in my body is on fire.

William says that writing can transform the unspeakable into a story.

Only I don’t want to tell a story, I want to break free.

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Why I love it

I love when books explore how complicated it can be to figure out your place in the world. It’s not an easy topic to capture, but Etaf Rum—author of 2019 BOTY finalist A Woman Is No Man—has no problem digging into the complexities of how our past informs us in the present and the importance of pursuing a fulfilling life. Her latest novel Evil Eye brims with emotion and piercing insights.

Yara is a Palestinian American woman trying to figure out how to balance her responsibilities as a wife, mother, and a working woman. After growing up in a conservative household where tensions often ran high, she feels that she is finally free from her past in the life she has built with her husband. She was able to pursue her degree and has a full-time job at the local university, which is more than her mother ever had. But sometimes the life she built doesn’t quite feel like it’s enough. When things at work take a turn for the worse and she responds to a colleague’s racist comments, she is put on probation and must attend counseling. As Yara begins to understand herself and confront her tumultuous past, she comes to question whether the life she’s built is what she wants for herself.

Evil Eye is easily one of my favorite books of the year. It is a heart-wrenching story of self-discovery that will leave a lasting impression on you.

Member ratings (6,921)

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Contemporary fiction
View all
The Last Love Note
What Does It Feel Like?
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
The Wedding People
Honey
The Leftover Woman
The Same Bright Stars
Bye, Baby
Swan Song
The Days I Loved You Most
The Connellys of County Down
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Jackpot Summer
Adelaide
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Again and Again
Evil Eye
Black Cake
Maame
Romantic Comedy
Someone Else’s Shoes
Once There Were Wolves
We Are the Brennans
The Bad Muslim Discount
What Comes After
Olga Dies Dreaming
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Monster in the Middle
Nine Perfect Strangers
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Honey Girl
In Every Mirror She's Black
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Sankofa
The Unsinkable Greta James
The Love of My Life
The Five-Star Weekend
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
The Wishing Game
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Little Fires Everywhere
The Music Shop
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The Reckless Oath We Made
Dear Edward
When We Were Vikings
The Girl with the Louding Voice
A Good Neighborhood
Big Summer
All Adults Here
Happy & You Know It
Friends and Strangers
The Comeback
True Story
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Troubles in Paradise
White Ivy
This Close to Okay
The Chicken Sisters
The Prophets
In a Book Club Far Away
The Other Black Girl
Apples Never Fall
A Quiet Life
We Are the Light
The Most Likely Club
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
The Hotel Nantucket