From the Publisher
Praise for Holly Warah's Where Jasmine Blooms:
“Steeped in the smells, flavors and customs of the Palestinian culture, Warah gives us a family quietly roiling under modern and time-worn conflicts. We watch as they, sometimes quietly and sometimes with riveting raucous, struggle to reconcile disparate cultures, harrowing politics and the place for individualism. The matriarch carries her anxieties like rattling chains, the western daughter-in-law waffles on whether her mixed marriage home is stifling or supportive, and a newer mixed marriage teeters even as it produces a child. This keenly told story of an immigrant family straddling two continents is a worthy read as we plod through a world grappling with pluralism.” —Nadia Hashimi, internationally bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell
“Warah’s prose irresistibly draws the reader into the inner world of one Muslim-American family with an authenticity obviously learned from a lifetime within. Where Jasmine Blooms is rich and multi-layered . . . a rare gem that stays in the reader’s thoughts long after the last page is turned.” —Jenny Jones, author of All Roads Lead to Jerusalem
“Luminous, tender observations about cross-cultural relationships, the sacrifices made; about accepting differences in beliefs, and ultimately about the understanding and love required to function as a supportive family unit. An absorbing read!” —Amita Trasi, author of The Color of Our Sky
"An intimate portrait of a clan, skillfully rendered. Where Jasmine Blooms shatters boundaries and shows us how to love when the going is tough." —Bharti Kirchner, author of Season of Sacrifice: A Maya Mallick Mystery
“An assured debut that deftly illuminates the pain, joys, and compromises involved in cross-cultural marriage . . . Warah clearly understands the world about which she writes, sensitively portraying the worlds and worldviews of both Palestinian men and American women.” —Jennifer Steil, author of The Ambassador's Wife
“Read this heartwarming story and, as you peel the layers of religion and culture, you will find that the heart and soul of an American woman is no different from that of an Arab.” —Sabeeha Rehman, author of Threading My Prayer Rug
"Three women. Three relationships to family, home, culture, and Islam. Three intimate struggles to make it all work. Warah deftly ferries readers between the United States and the Middle East, capturing the complexity of life as a woman in Arab culture and illuminating the possibilities of the human heart. A remarkably timely story." —Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, author of The Art of Floating and Thirsty
"Holly Warah weaves an engrossing tale of three women negotiating cross-cultural differences and definitions of love and relationship." —Alia Yunis, author of The Night Counter
“Holly Warah's writing—clear-eyed, generous and full of affection for her all-too-true characters and the places they call home—is exactly what the world needs to read right now.” —Zora O’Neill, author of All Strangers Are Kin
