Songs for the Brokenhearted, Ayelet Tsabari
Songs for the Brokenhearted, Ayelet Tsabari
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Songs for the Brokenhearted

Author: Ayelet Tsabari

Narrator: Ayelet Tsabari, Assaf Cohen, Yossi Zabari

Unabridged: 13 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/10/2024


Synopsis

A young Yemeni Israeli woman learns of her mother’s secret romance in a dramatic journey through lost family stories, revealing the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter—the debut novel of an award-winning literary voice.

“A gorgeous, gripping novel filled with unforgettable characters.”—Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD’S JJ GREENBERG MEMORIAL AWARD

1950. Thousands of Yemeni Jews have immigrated to the newly founded Israel in search of a better life. In an overcrowded immigrant camp in Rosh Ha’ayin, Yaqub, a shy young man, happens upon Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, they fall in love. But they weren’t supposed to; Saida is married and has a child, and a married woman has no place befriending another man.

1995. Thirty-something Zohara, Saida’s daughter, has been living in New York City—a city that feels much less complicated than Israel, where she grew up wishing that her skin was lighter, that her illiterate mother’s Yemeni music was quieter, and that the father who always favored her was alive. She hasn’t looked back since leaving home, rarely in touch with her mother or sister, Lizzie, and missing out on her nephew Yoni’s childhood. But when Lizzie calls to tell her their mother has died, she gets on a plane to Israel with no return ticket.

Soon Zohara finds herself on an unexpected path that leads to shocking truths about her family—including dangers that lurk for impressionable young men and secrets that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage, and her own future.

About Ayelet Tsabari

AYELET TSABARI is the author of the memoir in essays The Art of Leaving, winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Vine National Canadian Jewish Book Award for Non-Fiction. It was also chosen as a Best Book of 2019 by Apple Books and Kirkus Reviews. Tsabari was a co-editor, with Leonarda Carranza and Eufemia Fantetti, of the anthology Tongues: On Longing and Belonging through Language. Her first book, The Best Place on Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction. It was named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice book and was a Kirkus Review Best Debut Fiction of 2016 title. It was also nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.Ayelet Tsabari is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio and the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph. She teaches in the MFA creative writing program at the University of Guelph, the MFA in Fiction program at the University of King’s College and the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on October 26, 2024

Mothers and daughters. Relationships that can be at times plentiful; at other times tenuous. This is a story told in dual timelines. Saida’s story in 1950, and Zohara’s, her daughter, in 1995. It’s a story of the immigration of Yemeni Jews to Israel and the impact it had on both their lives. It’s the......more

Goodreads review by Karen on August 22, 2024

There are two story lines here… Yaqub and Saida meet in 1950 at a water fountain in an immigrant camp in Israel after coming over from Yemen. Yaqub fell in love as soon as he saw her… and more so when he heard her singing ..sitting along the waters edge. Heartbreaking Yemeni songs. Saida ended up in......more

Goodreads review by Kristel | Your Novel Ambitions on September 04, 2024

Songs for the Brokenhearted is a gentle, yet evocative debut novel that unfolds in two alternating narratives and timelines. The first is about young Saida and Yaqub, who fall in ill-fated love at an Israeli camp for Yemenite Jewish immigrants in 1950. The second is about Zohara Haddad, a graduate s......more

Goodreads review by Jill on May 08, 2024

First, let me say that Historical Fiction is not my favorite genre, and I don’t know much about the area and history of the area in which this book was written. Any errors in understanding are mine and not the author’s. That said, it was a lovely story. The book begins in 1950 in an immigration camp......more

Goodreads review by Lori on June 22, 2024

A beautiful, transportive multi-generational novel, "Songs for the Brokenhearted" tells the story of Zohara, a young Yemeni Jewish woman in 1995 as she's confronted with news of the death of her mother Saida. Despite the physical and emotional distance she's placed between herself and her mother, Zo......more


Quotes

Songs for the Brokenhearted is immersive, distinguished by sharp and agile prose, a remarkable cast of fully realized characters, and spellbinding storytelling. And when it comes to bearing witness to the vibrant history and culture of generations of Israel’s marginalized groups, the novel is an unparalleled triumph.”Jewish Book Council, Book Club Pick
 
“A richly layered tale of family, love and identity.”Hadassah Magazine

“Ayelet Tsabari is a gorgeous and empathic writer, and her new book, Songs for the Brokenhearted, is one of the most bighearted, profound, and nuanced novels I’ve read in years. This book broke my heart but, through Tsabari’s masterful writing and beautifully rendered characters, gave me optimism, too. . . . An incredible debut novel by a writer wise beyond her years. I loved it.”—Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans

“In her new novel, Ayelet Tsabari’s craft is at its apex. Her characters are alive, the story skillfully structured, and the tragic, hidden history of Yemenite Jews expertly woven into the lives of people you will laugh with and shed tears for. To read this book is also to encounter an Israel and Palestine few of us are familiar with nowadays, back when words like ‘peace’ and ‘hope’ were common, and nuance and complexity possible. A love song for a time long past, overflowing with emotional intelligence and psychological insight, Songs for the Brokenhearted will break your heart.”—Jonathan Garfinkel, author of In a Land Without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark

“Ayelet Tsabari has written a gorgeous, gripping novel that asks layered questions about history and politics, nation and borders, even as it pays rapt attention to the fabric of daily life. Where are we from? What has gone missing? Whose stories get told, and whose get erased? How do we love in a damaged world? Filled with unforgettable characters, each as flawed and fully human as the next, Songs for the Brokenhearted is a gift.”—Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika

“In this heartfelt and lyrical debut novel . . . Tsabari artfully plays up the religious and secular contrasts between East and West, and her well-developed characters, dramatic plot twists, and rich descriptions of Tel Aviv will keep readers turning the pages. This is transportive.”—Publishers Weekly

“A timely, well-crafted tale, imbued with cultural and personal sorrow.”—Kirkus Reivews