Evil Eye

by Etaf Rum · 2022

Evil Eye follows Yara Murad, a Palestinian‑American woman raised in a volatile Brooklyn household. After marrying a successful entrepreneur and building a career teaching art at a college, Yara balances professional ambition with motherhood to two daughters. When a racist provocation at work lands her on probation and forces her into mandatory counseling, her mother attributes the turmoil to a family curse. Though skeptical of superstition, Yara confronts the lingering trauma of her strict upbringing, realizing that the unresolved pain of her past threatens to repeat itself in her daughters' lives. The novel explores motherhood, intergenerational trauma, cultural identity, racism, and the struggle to break cycles of abuse while seeking a fulfilling, self‑determined life.