First published 2025
Arabella's dating life and theater career are both stalling out in New York. At thirty-five, the director faces an unusual opportunity: staging a cross-dressing Shakespeare production in the West Bank that could bring international recognition. Her mother Naya and grandmother Zoya see their chance. They arrange for Arabella to meet Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor working in Gaza. The setup comes at a complicated time. Arabella has developed feelings for Yoav, an Israeli American theater designer, a relationship that seems doomed from the start. As three generations of Palestinian American women navigate love, art, and family secrets, their story spans decades and continents. The family fled Jaffa in 1948, pursued dreams in Detroit and San Francisco, and hustled through New York's theater world after 9/11. Now one of them faces a devastating diagnosis. The women must decide how to live, create, and love while time runs short.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: bittersweet, character-driven, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, family-drama, forbidden-romance, multi-generational-narrative
Setting: West Bank, Gaza, New York, Jaffa, Detroit, San Francisco
Period: 1948, 2001, 21st-century, contemporary
352 pages · Paperback · Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: death, terminal-illness