Etaf Rum’s best-selling first novel, "A Woman Is No Man," focused on three Palestinian- American women pushing against tradition. "Evil Eye," her follow-up, is narrated by a woman who feels beyond such constraints until she’s reminded of a family curse.
'Woman at Point Zero' by Nawal El Saadawi (1977)
Feminist thinker and writer Nawal El Saadawi delivers a true account in the voice of a woman awaiting execution in a Cairo prison for having killed a pimp. “Let me speak. Do not interrupt me. I have no time to listen to you,” the protagonist begins, describing her life, from childhood in a village to prostitution in the city, with a steely defiance of patriarchy. She ultimately welcomes society’s retribution for her act of defiance — death — as the only way a woman can finally be free. Saadawi’s novel paints a vivid picture of female oppression and of an unapologetic, burning desire for liberation. Buy it here.
'Their Eyes Were Watching God' by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel manages to capture the challenges faced by Black women seeking liberation in a racist, misogynist world while also highlighting the liberating power of Black joy. Buy it here.
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