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Too Soon
Paperback

Too Soon

$32.99
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Arabella gets an unexpected chance at love when she’s thrust into a conflict and history she’s tried to avoid all her life.

Zoya is playing matchmaker for her last unmarried granddaughter—introducing Arabella to the very eligible grandson of an old flame and stirring up buried family history.

Naya is keeping a secret from her family that will change all their lives.

Thirty-five-year-old Arabella, a New York theatre director whose dating and career prospects are drying up, is offered an opportunity to direct a risqué cross-dressing interpretation of a Shakespeare classic (that might garner international attention) in the West Bank. Her grandmother, Zoya, plots to make a match between her and Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor volunteering in Gaza. Arabella agrees to meet Aziz since her growing feelings for Yoav, a celebrated Israeli American theatre designer, seem destined for disaster.

Arabella and Aziz’s instant connection reminds Zoya of the passion she once felt for Aziz’s grandfather, a man she desired desperately, even after her father arranged another husband for her. In turn, Zoya would later marry off her youngest daughter, Naya, who aspired to date the Jackson 5 and wasn’t ready to be a wife or mother to Arabella at sixteen. Now that Naya’s children are grown and she’s arrived at an abrupt midlife crossroads, it’s time to settle old scores…

With biting hilarity, Too Soon introduces us to a trio of bold and unforgettable voices. This dramatic saga follows one family’s epic journey from fleeing war-torn Jaffa in 1948, chasing the American Dream in Detroit and San Francisco in the sixties and seventies, hustling in the New York theatre scene post-9/11, and daring to stage a show in Palestine in 2012. Upon learning one of them is living on borrowed time, three women fight to live, make art, and love on their own terms. Too Soon joins the stories that seek to illuminate our shared history and ask, how can we set ourselves free?

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MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Country
United States
Date
5 March 2025
Pages
336
ISBN
9781668094495

Arabella gets an unexpected chance at love when she’s thrust into a conflict and history she’s tried to avoid all her life.

Zoya is playing matchmaker for her last unmarried granddaughter—introducing Arabella to the very eligible grandson of an old flame and stirring up buried family history.

Naya is keeping a secret from her family that will change all their lives.

Thirty-five-year-old Arabella, a New York theatre director whose dating and career prospects are drying up, is offered an opportunity to direct a risqué cross-dressing interpretation of a Shakespeare classic (that might garner international attention) in the West Bank. Her grandmother, Zoya, plots to make a match between her and Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor volunteering in Gaza. Arabella agrees to meet Aziz since her growing feelings for Yoav, a celebrated Israeli American theatre designer, seem destined for disaster.

Arabella and Aziz’s instant connection reminds Zoya of the passion she once felt for Aziz’s grandfather, a man she desired desperately, even after her father arranged another husband for her. In turn, Zoya would later marry off her youngest daughter, Naya, who aspired to date the Jackson 5 and wasn’t ready to be a wife or mother to Arabella at sixteen. Now that Naya’s children are grown and she’s arrived at an abrupt midlife crossroads, it’s time to settle old scores…

With biting hilarity, Too Soon introduces us to a trio of bold and unforgettable voices. This dramatic saga follows one family’s epic journey from fleeing war-torn Jaffa in 1948, chasing the American Dream in Detroit and San Francisco in the sixties and seventies, hustling in the New York theatre scene post-9/11, and daring to stage a show in Palestine in 2012. Upon learning one of them is living on borrowed time, three women fight to live, make art, and love on their own terms. Too Soon joins the stories that seek to illuminate our shared history and ask, how can we set ourselves free?

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Country
United States
Date
5 March 2025
Pages
336
ISBN
9781668094495
 
Book Review

Too Soon
by Betty Shamieh

by Nicole Vasilev, Feb 2025

In Too Soon, we are introduced to 35-year-old Arabella, a child of Palestinian American immigrants. She is a New York theatre director who finds herself at a crossroads in her career and dating life. She’s been offered an exciting opportunity to put on a gender-swapped interpretation of Hamlet in the West Bank, a chance that could reinvigorate her career.

Meanwhile, her grandmother Zoya conspires to match Arabella with Aziz, a Palestinian-American doctor volunteering in Gaza. Yet, Arabella finds herself with growing feelings for Yoav, an Israeli-American theatre designer.

Naya is the youngest of Zoya’s daughters and defies her mother the most. She was married off before she was ready, becoming Arabella’s mother at 16. This tension between personal desires and familial obligations speaks to the generational struggles that can define the lives of women.

This novel touches on the stories of these three generations of Palestinian women, and the generational trauma caused by the mass displacements of Palestinians. Betty Shamieh offers readers an opportunity to explore themes of belonging and the complexities of changing identity in a new country. She also weaves these stories seamlessly, making Too Soon a highly immersive read that draws the reader into the emotional landscapes of all three perspectives.

Personally, Zoya’s perspective stood out to me the most, with an interesting outlook on the American immigrant experience, as well as the complexities of motherhood and womanhood. I also feel like I’ve gained insight into how it might feel having the weight of history on your shoulders, as through Arabella’s perspective Shamieh shows us another viewpoint: one that shares what it’s like to be constantly reminded of the need to continue the legacy of your nation, especially when the legacy is in danger of disappearing.

I would recommend Too Soon for anyone looking for an accessible read to introduce them to the wonderful world of Palestinian literature