7 Questions for Etaf Rum

In Etaf Rum’s second novel, Evil Eye, a young Palestinian American artist and mother of two contends with the effects of intergenerational trauma and her complicated relationship with her mother. While centering mental health, the novel illustrates the value of therapy and the power of having one good friend.

Q 

As the owner of Books and Beans in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, you’re a bookseller as well as an author. You’re also a Book of the Month Club Ambassador. What new books are you most excited about? If you were curating a box of books for our readers, what would be in it?

A 

New releases I’m most excited about include Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, Jean Kwok’s The Leftover Woman, Melissa Rivero’s Flores and Miss Paula, and Susan Muaddi Darraj’s Behind You Is the Sea.

If I were curating a box of books for your readers, it would include Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and Michael A. Singer’s The Untethered Soul.

Q 

Yara, the protagonist of Evil Eye, is teaching a class called Responding to Art at a college in North Carolina and attempting, against some resistance, to expand the syllabus beyond the European impressionists. Would you share an artist or two who should be better known?

A 

Palestinian artist Raeda Saadeh, whose work often focuses on issues of displacement and identity, particularly how the lives of Palestinian women have been impacted by the Israeli occupation. Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi, whose work focuses on Arab female identity, commenting on the way women are frequently seen as merely decorative objects (see WLT, March 2013, 62).

Q 

In Evil Eye, you paint a beautiful picture of fall in North Carolina. Where are your favorite spots in the state for inspiration?

A 

Thank you. Some of my favorite spots in the state to get lost in include driving along Blue Ridge Parkway, which is truly one of the most scenic and breathtaking drives in the country; hiking along the trails, waterfalls, and peaks of Hanging Rock State Park; and (my favorite) walking along the miles and miles of pristine, undeveloped, and quaint beaches of Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks.

Q 

Evil Eye is rich in food description, and the pictures of food from @booksandbeans make me hungry (that lentil soup looks amazing). Are you a foodie? If you’re having a dinner party, what does that look like?

A 

Yes, I’m definitely a foodie. Hosting and cooking for friends and family helps me feel closer to my roots as a Palestinian woman. To honor my heritage at a dinner party, I would include stuffed grape leaves, beef kebabs, cheese and zaatar pastries, homemade hummus, tabbouleh, baked eggplant with tahini and pine nuts, and, of course, spiced basmati rice with toasted almonds and a generous dollop of tzatziki.

Q 

We seem to be caught in a pile-up of bad news. Both of your novels deal with serious subjects, like domestic violence, yet remain hopeful. On the darkest days, what picks you up? What keeps you hopeful?

A 

Good books, music, and art help keep me hopeful, as well as the belief that positive change, whether in the individual or society at large, is indeed possible.

Q 

If you could get everyone in the US to read one book by another author and discuss it, what would it be and why?

A 

Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. This book, which focuses on mindfulness, transformed me. It teaches the importance of living in the present moment to achieve a more fulfilling life that transcends the ego and leads to inner peace. I can’t recommend this book enough.

Q 

What cultural offerings or trends have recently captured your attention?

A 

The strong nostalgia for the “good old days,” how we tend to seek refuge in the past, and the recent fascination with ’90s sitcoms and fashion.