Evil Eye
By Etaf Rum
340 pages
What’s it about?
A Woman is No Man was Etaf Rum’s first novel and a huge success. She follows that book up with Evil Eye,the story of Yara Murad. Yara Murad is a young wife and mother living in North Carolina. She has worked hard to “become something”. She wants to teach but must be content with doing the college’s graphic design and just teaching one Introduction to Art class. Her life seems like a struggle and she is not sure why. One day she loses her temper with a colleague and is asked to attend counseling. Will this be the answer she is looking for?What did it make me think about?
What it is to be a woman- especially a woman from a more conservative culture living in America.Should I read it?
This novel tells the story of a young woman who is trying to juggle two cultures. Although born in Brooklyn, Yara is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and she has lived a very sheltered life. Etaf Rum has the ability to draw you into her characters lives and make you care. This was an interesting story about how trauma can last for generations.Quote-
“Each time she tried to articulate these thoughts to William, she stopped, afraid of how meaningless the sentences might sounds. Words simplified situations and emotions, robbed them of their complexity. Could her words portray how powerless she felt, how torn? Never fitting in, unable to truly belong. Or would they convey another message, validating Amanda’s assumptions: How insular her community was, how limiting?”What’s it about?
A Woman is No Man was Etaf Rum’s first novel and a huge success. She follows that book up with Evil Eye,the story of Yara Murad. Yara Murad is a young wife and mother living in North Carolina. She has worked hard to “become something”. She wants to teach but must be content with doing the college’s graphic design and just teaching one Introduction to Art class. Her life seems like a struggle and she is not sure why. One day she loses her temper with a colleague and is asked to attend counseling. Will this be the answer she is looking for?
What did it make me think about?
What it is to be a woman- especially a woman from a more conservative culture living in America.
Should I read it?
This novel tells the story of a young woman who is trying to juggle two cultures. Although born in Brooklyn, Yara is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and she has lived a very sheltered life. Etaf Rum has the ability to draw you into her characters lives and make you care. This was an interesting story about how trauma can last for generations.
Quote-
“Each time she tried to articulate these thoughts to William, she stopped, afraid of how meaningless the sentences might sounds. Words simplified situations and emotions, robbed them of their complexity. Could her words portray how powerless she felt, how torn? Never fitting in, unable to truly belong. Or would they convey another message, validating Amanda’s assumptions: How insular her community was, how limiting?”
