My enormous thanks to Natasha Gill at Harper Collins for a copy of Evil Eye by Etaf Rum in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Evil Eye is published today, 5th September 2023 by HQ and is available for purchase through the links here.

Evil Eye

The powerful and poignant new novel from the author of the much-loved A Woman is No Man.

Raised in a conservative Palestinian family in Brooklyn, Yara thought she would finally feel free when she married a charming entrepreneur. Now, she has a good job at the local college, and balances that with raising her two daughters and taking care of their home. Yara knows that her life is more rewarding than her mother’s – so why doesn’t it feel like enough?

After Yara responds to a colleague’s racist provocation, she is put on probation at work and must attend mandatory counselling. Her mother blames a family curse for Yara’s troubles, and while Yara doesn’t believe in superstitions, she still finds herself growing increasingly uneasy about falling victim to the same mistakes as her mother.

Yara’s carefully constructed world begins to implode and suddenly she must face up to the difficulties of her childhood, not fully realising how that will impact not just her own future, but that of her daughters too.

My Review of Evil Eye

Yara’s searching for happiness.

Evil Eye is a remarkable book. Etaf Rum imbues her writing with such an insight into marriage, mothers, fathers and daughters, cultural mores and expectations that the narrative becomes almost a universal handbook for modern times.

The story is essentially simple with Yara increasingly unhappy in her marriage. Much of the text relates to her introspection with most of the action, such as Baba’s treatment of her mother, happening off stage as it were, through memory and reflection. This is what makes Evil Eye so powerful. Etaf Rum steers the reader through discord as Yara’s family have been displaced from their homeland, through coercive and abusive relationships and through the concept that our past, our treatment by others and our perceptions shape who we are today. There’s a profound understanding of humanity and history here that is stunning. 

I found Yara so complex, layered and fascinating. I loved the way she lives her life behind her camera lens as a metaphor for the barriers restricting her life. There were times when I was as frustrated by her as Fadi, wondering why she couldn’t simply accept her life. There were times when I raged on her behalf, wanting to launch myself into the text and haul her out with me so that she could have a better chance at personal fulfilment, and there were moments when reading about her, hearing her innermost thoughts and experiencing her insecurities with her, made me consider my own life and appreciate its privileges all the more. 

The themes in Evil Eye are uncomfortable but sadly all too realistic. Racism, sexism, oppression of many kinds including self blame and negativity for example, should make Evil Eye a depressing and frustrating story and I think some readers will find it hard to read. However, it is also a story of deep love, friendship, creativity and bravery that affects the reader profoundly.

Filled with completely relatable yearning and achingly beautifully written, Evil Eye is a wonderful, moving and absorbing story of identity and belonging and learning to love yourself. I thought it was excellent.

About Etaf Rum

Etaf Rum was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, by Palestinian immigrants. She teaches college English literature in North Carolina, where she lives with her two children. She also runs the Instagram account @booksandbeans.

For further information follow Etaf on Twitter @EtafRum or find her on Facebook and Instagram.