Rum's 'mesmerising' second novel goes to HQ

HQ has signed Evil Eye, the new novel from Etaf Rum, author of the New York Times bestseller A Woman is No Man.  

Publisher Manpreet Grewal acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from HarperCollins US. Erin Wicks, while at Harper, acquired world English rights from Julia Kardon at HG Literary, and Emily Griffin, executive editor, will publish on the Harper imprint in the US. It will be published in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio in September 2023. 

HQ said: “Evil Eye is a powerful mother-daughter drama that explores intergenerational trauma and is a striking portrayal of the expectations placed on Palestinian-American women. After Yara responds to a colleague’s racist provocation, she is put on probation at work and must attend mandatory counselling. Her mother blames a family curse for Yara’s troubles, and while Yara doesn’t believe in superstitions, she still finds herself growing increasingly uneasy about falling victim to the same mistakes as her mother. Yara’s carefully constructed world begins to implode and suddenly she must face up to the difficulties of her childhood, not fully realising how that will impact not just her own future, but that of her daughters too.”  

Rum, a Palestinian-American novelist, said: "When I was teaching literature courses prior to writing A Woman is No Man [published by Harpercollins in 2019], there weren’t any stories reflecting Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans in the western cannon. I found it very hard to access my story and my people in fiction; there’s little access to the Arab world, and if there is, it’s stereotypes. Caricatures and misrepresentations. Stories that aren’t told by us. I wanted to change that. So, I wrote A Woman is No Man and now Evil Eye in hopes of opening a new door." A Woman is No Man, Rum’s debut, was a New York Times bestseller and was featured in other publications such as the Washington Post.

She added: "My dream is for our stories to fill the bookshelves, stories reflecting the diversity and plurality of the Arab- American experience, and I’m delighted to be working with Manpreet and the HQ team to achieve just that."

Grewal said: “A Woman is No Man remains one of my favourite novels of all time so when Evil Eye came in, I couldn’t wait to start reading. It was everything I was hoping for, and more – Etaf has a unique ability to make a story feel both intimate and classic all at once, and I was mesmerised by every page. It’s rich and epic in scope, and plays an important role in bringing the Palestinian experience to the fore. I couldn’t be prouder to her UK publisher.”