Too Soon

A Novel

By: Betty Shamieh

Narrated by: Betty Shamieh, Jacqueline Antaramian, Lameece Issaq

“Fiercely funny, sexy, and culturally resonant.” —People, Best Books of the Month • “Shamieh balances her characters’ painful family history and their boisterously funny voices.” —The New Yorker

A “wonderfully brash and sparkling” (Oprah Daily, Best Books of the Year) novel that explores exile, love, and freedom across three generations of women—“a Palestinian American Sex and the City” (The Atlantic).

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 and stirring up buried memories.

Naya is keeping a secret from her children 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 mother, Naya, and grandmother, Zoya, hatch a plot to match her with 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...

With biting hilarity, Too Soon introduces us to a trio of bold and unforgettable voices. This dramatic saga follows one family’s epic journey 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, the three women fight to live, make art, and love on their own terms. A funny, sexy, and heart-wrenching literary debut, Too Soon illuminates our shared history and asks, how can we set ourselves free?

Critic reviews

"Betty Shamieh portrays Arabella, a New York City director descended from a long line of Palestinian women. Grandmother Zoya and daughter Naya are performed by Jacqueline Antaramian and Lameece Issaq. The women passionately share how their traditions provide strength in the face of adversity. Together, they pour out these characters’ stories with humor, sarcasm, and respect for a family’s traumatic history. The story begins with their immigration to America in the late 1940s, as described by matriarch Zoya; moves to daughter Naya’s rocky adjustments to life in a new country; and then illuminates American-born granddaughter Arabella’s reconnection with her roots. As the story proceeds, the narrators depict the characters’ pride of heritage and tradition, as well as a deeper perspective on the history of Palestine."

"Betty Shamieh portrays Arabella, a New York City director descended from a long line of Palestinian women. Grandmother Zoya and daughter Naya are performed by Jacqueline Antaramian and Lameece Issaq. The women passionately share how their traditions provide strength in the face of adversity. Together, they pour out these characters’ stories with humor, sarcasm, and respect for a family’s traumatic history. The story begins with their immigration to America in the late 1940s, as described by matriarch Zoya; moves to daughter Naya’s rocky adjustments to life in a new country; and then illuminates American-born granddaughter Arabella’s reconnection with her roots. As the story proceeds, the narrators depict the characters’ pride of heritage and tradition, as well as a deeper perspective on the history of Palestine."

A beautiful tale of history and fiction

How the writer detailed the lives of the 3 women, in different life spans in a funny, sexy and beautifully written execution. Truly a master piece.

Amazing

This was well read book grabs your attention and keeps you listening, waiting to see what the next chapter has in store. It weaves between three generations, and keeps you in suspense. All while offering many insightful thought provoking observations, with a rich mix of wit and humor.