Amreekiya: A Novel

Isra Shadi lives in California with her paternal Palestinian family—her amu (uncle), amtu (aunt), and cousins—after the death of her American mother and abandonment by her father at a young age. Ever the outcast in her amu and amtu's household, Isra is encouraged to marry and leave. After rejecting a string of undesirable suitors, she marries Yusef, an old love from her past.

In Amreekiya, author Lena Mahmoud deftly juggles two storylines, alternating between Isra's youth and her current lif...