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Too Soon
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 grandmother, Zoya, plots to make a match between her and 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.
Arabella and Aziz’s instant connection reminds Zoya of the passion she once felt for Aziz’s grandfather, a man she desired desperately, even after her father arranged another husband for her. In turn, Zoya would later marry off her youngest daughter, Naya, who aspired to date the Jackson 5 and wasn’t ready to be a wife or mother to Arabella at sixteen. Now that Naya’s children are grown and she’s arrived at an abrupt midlife crossroads, it’s time to settle old scores…
Arabella and Aziz’s instant connection reminds Zoya of the passion she once felt for Aziz’s grandfather, a man she desired desperately, even after her father arranged another husband for her. In turn, Zoya would later marry off her youngest daughter, Naya, who aspired to date the Jackson 5 and wasn’t ready to be a wife or mother to Arabella at sixteen. Now that Naya’s children are grown and she’s arrived at an abrupt midlife crossroads, it’s time to settle old scores…
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 2025
278 people are currently reading
17902 people want to read
About the author
Betty Shamieh
10 books97 followersBetty Shamieh (she/her) is the author of fifteen plays. Shamieh's debut novel, Too Soon, was published by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in January 2025.
Malvolio, an irreverent comedy and sequel to Twelfth Night, had its world premiere at the Classical Theatre of Harlem as part of their annual Uptown Shakespeare in the Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheatre in July 2023 (co-directed by Ian Belknap and Ty Jones). Malvolio was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick and nominated for ten AUDELCO Awards, including Best Play.
Her other off-Broadway premieres include The Black Eyed (New York Theatre Workshop, Director: Sam Gold) and Roar (The New Group, Director: Marion McClinton). Roar was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick and is currently being taught at universities throughout the United States. Shamieh was named a UNESCO Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Drama and Performance Art.
Her European productions in translation are Again and Against (Playhouse Theater, Sweden), The Black Eyed (Fournos Theatre, Greece), and Territories (European Union Capital of Culture Festival). Shamieh wrote and co-starred in her play of monologues, Chocolate in Heat (Director: Sam Gold), in two sold-out off-off-Broadway runs and over twenty university theatres. As Soon As Impossible was developed with Jamie Farr and commissioned by Second Stage through the Time Warner Commissioning Program. The Machine (Director: Marisa Tomei) was produced by Naked Angels at the Duke Theatre in 2007. She began performing in work-in-progress presentations of The Alter-Ego of an Arab-American Assimilationist (a performance art-lecture) at colleges in 2014. Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Studies presented the world premiere of a suite of arias from Territories, an opera based on her play. Fit for a Queen had world premiere at the Classical Theatre of Harlem in October 2016 (Director: Tamilla Woodard). In 2017, the New York premiere of her immersive murder mystery The Strangest (Director: May Adrales) was selected as one of the season’s “most promising live events” in the New York Times Spring Arts Preview article, “32 Reasons to Get Out & Get Off the Couch.”
Shamieh’s work has been the subject of features in the New York Times, Time Out, American Theatre magazine, Theater Bay Area, the Brooklyn Rail, San Francisco Chronicle, Svenska Dagbladet, Teaterstockholm, der Standard, Aramco Magazine, Kathimeiri, and the International Herald Tribune among others. A cartoon of Roar appeared in the New Yorker’s “Goings on about Town” section.
A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama, Shamieh was awarded an NEA/TCG grant to be a playwright-in-residence at the Magic Theatre. Shamieh was selected as a Clifton Visiting Artist at Harvard and named as a Playwriting Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. Shamieh has taught playwriting at Columbia/Barnard, Denison College, and Marymount Manhattan College. She is a alumni member of New Dramatists. an affiliated artist at the New Group, and a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect.
Recently, she was named the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at the Classical Theatre of Harlem and a Denning Visiting Artist at Stanford. She was commissioned by Noor Theatre with support from Pop Culture Collab to develop a comic TV pilot, inspired by her play Roar.
Her works have been translated into seven languages.
Malvolio, an irreverent comedy and sequel to Twelfth Night, had its world premiere at the Classical Theatre of Harlem as part of their annual Uptown Shakespeare in the Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheatre in July 2023 (co-directed by Ian Belknap and Ty Jones). Malvolio was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick and nominated for ten AUDELCO Awards, including Best Play.
Her other off-Broadway premieres include The Black Eyed (New York Theatre Workshop, Director: Sam Gold) and Roar (The New Group, Director: Marion McClinton). Roar was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick and is currently being taught at universities throughout the United States. Shamieh was named a UNESCO Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Drama and Performance Art.
Her European productions in translation are Again and Against (Playhouse Theater, Sweden), The Black Eyed (Fournos Theatre, Greece), and Territories (European Union Capital of Culture Festival). Shamieh wrote and co-starred in her play of monologues, Chocolate in Heat (Director: Sam Gold), in two sold-out off-off-Broadway runs and over twenty university theatres. As Soon As Impossible was developed with Jamie Farr and commissioned by Second Stage through the Time Warner Commissioning Program. The Machine (Director: Marisa Tomei) was produced by Naked Angels at the Duke Theatre in 2007. She began performing in work-in-progress presentations of The Alter-Ego of an Arab-American Assimilationist (a performance art-lecture) at colleges in 2014. Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Studies presented the world premiere of a suite of arias from Territories, an opera based on her play. Fit for a Queen had world premiere at the Classical Theatre of Harlem in October 2016 (Director: Tamilla Woodard). In 2017, the New York premiere of her immersive murder mystery The Strangest (Director: May Adrales) was selected as one of the season’s “most promising live events” in the New York Times Spring Arts Preview article, “32 Reasons to Get Out & Get Off the Couch.”
Shamieh’s work has been the subject of features in the New York Times, Time Out, American Theatre magazine, Theater Bay Area, the Brooklyn Rail, San Francisco Chronicle, Svenska Dagbladet, Teaterstockholm, der Standard, Aramco Magazine, Kathimeiri, and the International Herald Tribune among others. A cartoon of Roar appeared in the New Yorker’s “Goings on about Town” section.
A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama, Shamieh was awarded an NEA/TCG grant to be a playwright-in-residence at the Magic Theatre. Shamieh was selected as a Clifton Visiting Artist at Harvard and named as a Playwriting Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. Shamieh has taught playwriting at Columbia/Barnard, Denison College, and Marymount Manhattan College. She is a alumni member of New Dramatists. an affiliated artist at the New Group, and a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect.
Recently, she was named the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at the Classical Theatre of Harlem and a Denning Visiting Artist at Stanford. She was commissioned by Noor Theatre with support from Pop Culture Collab to develop a comic TV pilot, inspired by her play Roar.
Her works have been translated into seven languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 309 reviews
October 23, 2024
I didn’t hate this, and it’s certainly readable, but it had real issues that built up as it progressed. Fundamentally, the characters never came to life for me. They’re often animate by rage, competitiveness, and despair — all interesting and understandable emotions, particularly in the context of this story. But because they don’t feel full realized, they (the narrators, in particular) often feel stiff, brittle in ways that aren’t interesting or revealing, just limiting. There are also moments where people reveal information or make very direct emotional statements that feel like they’re there for the reader, or to make the plot advance, rather than because they really make sense for the story. In one scene, a gay man tells the narrator in 1960s Detroit that he’s… gay… and in an open relationship with a man. They don’t know each other that well. I couldn’t imagine a man in that position, knowing the potential ramifications of such a disclosure, saying these things. (Also, just casually dropping that you’re in an open relationship… is more a 21st century thing.) That’s just one example. The dialogue is often the weakest part of the writing — surprising, from a theater director — which adds to this issue and the general issue of the characters not feeling real.
It’s also very unfortunate that Shamieh happened to write a book partly about a theater production of Hamlet in the West Bank so soon after Isabella Hammad did the same thing. There’s even an identical twist late in each book. There’s no way she was copying Enter Ghost, this novel will have been in the works for years, but that book is so successful artistically that it’s impossible not to compare them, and this one comes out looking worse.
All that said, it’s encouraging to see more books by Palestinian writers, in this case from the diaspora, being published, and the value of this book primarily comes from its depiction of families forced out of their homes in the Nakba, struggling to assimilate in America, and the continuing complex gender dynamics generations later. (The actual details of life in the West Bank can’t compare to, for instance, Hammad’s work.) I don’t really like praising a book for being “representation,” it undermines the author in some ways, but the simple fact is that American publishing has not historically been interested in these narratives and clearly they are now trying to publish more in this area. Even if thats just a cold blooded move on their part, increasing the number of writers exploring this part of the world (and the American diasporic experience) is a net positive, even if I don’t think this book really works on an artistic level.
It’s also very unfortunate that Shamieh happened to write a book partly about a theater production of Hamlet in the West Bank so soon after Isabella Hammad did the same thing. There’s even an identical twist late in each book. There’s no way she was copying Enter Ghost, this novel will have been in the works for years, but that book is so successful artistically that it’s impossible not to compare them, and this one comes out looking worse.
All that said, it’s encouraging to see more books by Palestinian writers, in this case from the diaspora, being published, and the value of this book primarily comes from its depiction of families forced out of their homes in the Nakba, struggling to assimilate in America, and the continuing complex gender dynamics generations later. (The actual details of life in the West Bank can’t compare to, for instance, Hammad’s work.) I don’t really like praising a book for being “representation,” it undermines the author in some ways, but the simple fact is that American publishing has not historically been interested in these narratives and clearly they are now trying to publish more in this area. Even if thats just a cold blooded move on their part, increasing the number of writers exploring this part of the world (and the American diasporic experience) is a net positive, even if I don’t think this book really works on an artistic level.
November 30, 2024
2.75/5 ARC gifted by the publisher
I wanted to like this but ended up struggling even finishing it 🥲
this book could work for readers who’s read less than 3 books about Palestine, knows very little about Palestinian history, and wants something veeeeery general that touches on different aspects of Palestinian culture & politics without going into detail
I appreciate the setting of a wealthy Palestinian Americans theater director who doesn’t care at all about her “people’s” struggles. This premise could induce some interesting discussions and thoughts about solidarity, class differences, the model minority myth, and the effective modalities in resistance movements. But be warned, I don’t think the story itself offers deep insight into these topics but merely glosses over each topic. I was expecting actual character development but the only aspect I got from the book was so surface level it really made the reading experience not worth it at all
Perhaps due to the early ARC, the book reads like a very rough draft that needs extensive editing. The writing is clunky with random info-dumping that breaks the flow of the story so much I started skipping those. This is the main reason why I think readers without much background in this subject mattering might takeaway more from the book—if they don’t mind sacrificing the quality of a novel. Similarly, the dialogues are so unbelievable that the characters read like symbols rather than fully realized human beings
It’s also an unfortunate coincidence that the premise is so similar to ENTER GHOST (Isabella Hammad), yet the writing quality is so poor it really reads like fan fic 😭
I understand the need to publish more Palestinian stories, but i really hesitate to recommend this book to any readers due to all the shortcomings
I wanted to like this but ended up struggling even finishing it 🥲
this book could work for readers who’s read less than 3 books about Palestine, knows very little about Palestinian history, and wants something veeeeery general that touches on different aspects of Palestinian culture & politics without going into detail
I appreciate the setting of a wealthy Palestinian Americans theater director who doesn’t care at all about her “people’s” struggles. This premise could induce some interesting discussions and thoughts about solidarity, class differences, the model minority myth, and the effective modalities in resistance movements. But be warned, I don’t think the story itself offers deep insight into these topics but merely glosses over each topic. I was expecting actual character development but the only aspect I got from the book was so surface level it really made the reading experience not worth it at all
Perhaps due to the early ARC, the book reads like a very rough draft that needs extensive editing. The writing is clunky with random info-dumping that breaks the flow of the story so much I started skipping those. This is the main reason why I think readers without much background in this subject mattering might takeaway more from the book—if they don’t mind sacrificing the quality of a novel. Similarly, the dialogues are so unbelievable that the characters read like symbols rather than fully realized human beings
It’s also an unfortunate coincidence that the premise is so similar to ENTER GHOST (Isabella Hammad), yet the writing quality is so poor it really reads like fan fic 😭
I understand the need to publish more Palestinian stories, but i really hesitate to recommend this book to any readers due to all the shortcomings
September 15, 2024
In Too Soon we meet Arabella, 35 and a theater director in New York who is waiting to make her big break on Broadway. But she has the lingering feeling she’s slowly missing the train to motherhood and wondering if that’s a path she even wants to explore. When an opportunity arises to direct a play in Palestine she feels the tug to return to her family’s homeland. It also helps her grandmother has conspired to set her up with a doctor which might be her answer to that lingering feeling.
Zoya is the matriarch of the family, a woman who pushed the boundaries in school until she was pulled out to work by her father. She’s married off at 15 and rises from her meager farm life to that of socialite - where she still struggles to fit in. Soon enough an attack - commonly referred to now as The 6 Day War - takes the rug out from under her family. After a decade of living with her father, she finally embarks on her journey to American with her 7 daughters and son in tow.
Naya is the youngest of Zoya’s daughters and the one that defies her the most. In her struggles to fit in with her American classmates and overcome language barriers she begins to gravitate to Black Panther meetings and don an Afro. In an effort to “help” her daughter Zoya arranges for Naya to be pulled from school and married off at 15 just as she had been.
This novel touches on so many things; the mass displacement & erasure of Palestinians over the decades, lost love & sexual desires, life as a refugee in America, motherhood and arranged marriages, generational traumas that echo over time. It’s beautifully complex and with such immersive writing I felt like I knew these three women deeply, personally.
I think this novel is an example of why I love reading so much. I could see parts of myself but also see how vastly different their life experiences were from my own. It is a beautiful thing to experience someone else’s life for a bit and to widen your scope of understanding fellow human beings.
Zoya is the matriarch of the family, a woman who pushed the boundaries in school until she was pulled out to work by her father. She’s married off at 15 and rises from her meager farm life to that of socialite - where she still struggles to fit in. Soon enough an attack - commonly referred to now as The 6 Day War - takes the rug out from under her family. After a decade of living with her father, she finally embarks on her journey to American with her 7 daughters and son in tow.
Naya is the youngest of Zoya’s daughters and the one that defies her the most. In her struggles to fit in with her American classmates and overcome language barriers she begins to gravitate to Black Panther meetings and don an Afro. In an effort to “help” her daughter Zoya arranges for Naya to be pulled from school and married off at 15 just as she had been.
This novel touches on so many things; the mass displacement & erasure of Palestinians over the decades, lost love & sexual desires, life as a refugee in America, motherhood and arranged marriages, generational traumas that echo over time. It’s beautifully complex and with such immersive writing I felt like I knew these three women deeply, personally.
I think this novel is an example of why I love reading so much. I could see parts of myself but also see how vastly different their life experiences were from my own. It is a beautiful thing to experience someone else’s life for a bit and to widen your scope of understanding fellow human beings.
January 13, 2026
Palestinians in exile, particularly women, through three generations spanning the intifada, Six-Day War, and 9/11, but told through the lens of the theatre life.
December 30, 2025
4.5 rounded up because I loved a lot of what it had to say about motherhood in particular and to hear from different perspectives on Palestine, which I am woefully ignorant about.
February 11, 2025
This book has everything it needs to be exceptional—razor-sharp writing, a captivating plot, and deeply evocative settings that bring each timeline to life. Shamieh’s storytelling is both confronting and thought-provoking, challenging my understanding of diaspora while illuminating universal truths about familial expectations, desire, and belonging. The novel’s intergenerational lens on Palestinian identity is especially powerful, exploring womanhood through the complexities of motherhood, ethnicity, and expectations of duty. Writing about Palestine in such an intimate, deeply personal way is an act of resistance, and this novel asserts the importance of remembering and honoring histories deliberately targeted for erasure. While some early character development, particularly with Zoya and Arabella, felt rushed for the sake of narrative progress, once the stage was set, I was fully immersed in their minds. Ultimately, this novel is striking in its humor and honesty, expanding upon an ongoing history of violence with love, courage, and nuance.
———————————————————————————
“We girls weren't people who possessed eyes that could watch the boys watching us. We were portals to their manhood. The thing about selecting a portal is that it sets you on a path. There is no return. You only get to choose once. You have to choose wisely.”
“The experience of reading fiction is so singular because anyone can access it anytime and anywhere. You can open a book and close it five minutes later feeling less alone in the world.”
“The only thing that feels real to me is that my mother is gone. In some ways, this year after I lost my mom has been a time of excavation. I spend it trying to discover who she was.”
“Her way of punishing me was to close herself off. Never give me the space to apologize, so she would never have to face the fact that some sins are unforgivable. They go with you to the grave. Those sins always involve children.”
“I was my most attractive the year I turned forty. A woman that age is a rose in full bloom with all her layers unfurled and the once-hidden folds within her shamelessly on display. For the first time, she is nourished enough to stretch out, open, expand... A woman of forty is a flower fully unfurled. It's also the instant before she starts to wilt.”
“Give rage a home in your body and lend it your voice, and it wears itself out. Otherwise, it turns into resentment, a ghost of itself, and you can never kill a ghost.”
“To act onstage is to revel in the slipperiness of life, to be yourself and not yourself at the same time. It's the one time you can take two journeys at once.”
“Your life, not the plays you put on, is our story. You're a daughter of a people who are demonized for the crime of refusing to be erased, who show the world there is a difference between a defenseless people and a defeated one. When the story of Palestine is told, it's the artists that history will remember. We've been flung to every corner of the globe. Wherever we find ourselves, we thrive. Call us animals? Go ahead. Depict us as monsters? Irrational? Uncivilized? No matter. History will remember the truth. Wherever we go, people like you prove we contribute. We make beauty. We make art.”
———————————————————————————
“We girls weren't people who possessed eyes that could watch the boys watching us. We were portals to their manhood. The thing about selecting a portal is that it sets you on a path. There is no return. You only get to choose once. You have to choose wisely.”
“The experience of reading fiction is so singular because anyone can access it anytime and anywhere. You can open a book and close it five minutes later feeling less alone in the world.”
“The only thing that feels real to me is that my mother is gone. In some ways, this year after I lost my mom has been a time of excavation. I spend it trying to discover who she was.”
“Her way of punishing me was to close herself off. Never give me the space to apologize, so she would never have to face the fact that some sins are unforgivable. They go with you to the grave. Those sins always involve children.”
“I was my most attractive the year I turned forty. A woman that age is a rose in full bloom with all her layers unfurled and the once-hidden folds within her shamelessly on display. For the first time, she is nourished enough to stretch out, open, expand... A woman of forty is a flower fully unfurled. It's also the instant before she starts to wilt.”
“Give rage a home in your body and lend it your voice, and it wears itself out. Otherwise, it turns into resentment, a ghost of itself, and you can never kill a ghost.”
“To act onstage is to revel in the slipperiness of life, to be yourself and not yourself at the same time. It's the one time you can take two journeys at once.”
“Your life, not the plays you put on, is our story. You're a daughter of a people who are demonized for the crime of refusing to be erased, who show the world there is a difference between a defenseless people and a defeated one. When the story of Palestine is told, it's the artists that history will remember. We've been flung to every corner of the globe. Wherever we find ourselves, we thrive. Call us animals? Go ahead. Depict us as monsters? Irrational? Uncivilized? No matter. History will remember the truth. Wherever we go, people like you prove we contribute. We make beauty. We make art.”
May 9, 2025
this is a strong 3 for me. i didn't like the dual timeline in this one (i love dual timelines but something has to click for me), but i absolutely adored arabella's timeline and her voice.
February 9, 2025
More like 2.75ish?
The main character says repeatedly she doesn’t care about “the Palestinian struggle,” so tbh I was probably just not the target audience as someone who has been directly impacted by the apartheid states violence, the main characters nonstop flippancy about activists felt like a personal insult and I probably should’ve just stopped reading early on.
Generally, the story was fun enough but the politics were that of someone really rich and privileged. Lots of shallow false equivalencies drawn throughout different political situations and the background characters all felt dry to me.
Love multigenerational family sagas and it was interesting to see the story through her, her mom, and grandmothers eyes. They all annoyed me
The main character says repeatedly she doesn’t care about “the Palestinian struggle,” so tbh I was probably just not the target audience as someone who has been directly impacted by the apartheid states violence, the main characters nonstop flippancy about activists felt like a personal insult and I probably should’ve just stopped reading early on.
Generally, the story was fun enough but the politics were that of someone really rich and privileged. Lots of shallow false equivalencies drawn throughout different political situations and the background characters all felt dry to me.
Love multigenerational family sagas and it was interesting to see the story through her, her mom, and grandmothers eyes. They all annoyed me
January 29, 2026
Too Soon by Betty Shamieh is a contemporary literary novel set in the United States, mainly in urban American settings, during modern day. The story explores identity, family, and cultural expectations, focusing on the pressures placed on women and the choices they make. While the themes are meaningful and timely, the pacing and character development didn’t fully pull me in. Overall, it was a thoughtful read but didn’t quite hit as hard as I hoped — 3 stars.
September 4, 2025
Such a beautiful, honest novel highlighting the intricacies of intergenerational relationships, trauma, politics, gender, and love among the three female, Palestinian, protagonists. #readwithbanadorasbox
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March 24, 2025I was really excited for this book... The Atlantic described it as "Palestinian-American Sex in the City" and Codeswitch had a great interview with the author.
Unfortunately, this book just did not work. A lot of other reviews have articulated very well what went wrong here. The author goes out of her way to explain Palestinian concepts and history and culture that gets in the way of a story. Novels shouldn't be written to overexploit to your reader, if a reader does not know something it is on them to learn about it.
The main character also was not very well developed. She wants to be known as a theater director and not Palestinian but I don't really see that come through. If she cares about theater most of all why don't we learn about it through her character more? I wanted to see inside her director mind more and learn about the way she casts and stages plays, etc. We randomly get some of that but I wanted way more. Instead we hear her complaining about her family and Palestine while simultaneously going for a guy who cares very deeply for Palestine. Also, her love for her friend Yoav is not developed well at all. We suddenly find out she has been in love with him for 20 years when their friendship has not been developed at all in the book. We are told a lot of things but not given the space to see them. She's also just really horrible to him??
But where the book really lost me was the historical fiction part. The grandmother and mother's stories get so unbelievable at a certain point. What do you mean gay Black men are telling you they're in an "open relationship" in the 1960s?? No one is using that language or going around admitting this to people. The author seems to take the biggest events or cultural movements of each period and maker her characters very aware and involved in them (the mom wanting to be a Black Panther??).
What makes this book frustrating is that the idea was so good. But the characters were so frustrating and I was never hearing about what I wanted to hear. People were randomly sharing their life stories that we didn't hear about until later and we were always being told what happened after the fact.
Unfortunately, this book just did not work. A lot of other reviews have articulated very well what went wrong here. The author goes out of her way to explain Palestinian concepts and history and culture that gets in the way of a story. Novels shouldn't be written to overexploit to your reader, if a reader does not know something it is on them to learn about it.
The main character also was not very well developed. She wants to be known as a theater director and not Palestinian but I don't really see that come through. If she cares about theater most of all why don't we learn about it through her character more? I wanted to see inside her director mind more and learn about the way she casts and stages plays, etc. We randomly get some of that but I wanted way more. Instead we hear her complaining about her family and Palestine while simultaneously going for a guy who cares very deeply for Palestine. Also, her love for her friend Yoav is not developed well at all. We suddenly find out she has been in love with him for 20 years when their friendship has not been developed at all in the book. We are told a lot of things but not given the space to see them. She's also just really horrible to him??
But where the book really lost me was the historical fiction part. The grandmother and mother's stories get so unbelievable at a certain point. What do you mean gay Black men are telling you they're in an "open relationship" in the 1960s?? No one is using that language or going around admitting this to people. The author seems to take the biggest events or cultural movements of each period and maker her characters very aware and involved in them (the mom wanting to be a Black Panther??).
What makes this book frustrating is that the idea was so good. But the characters were so frustrating and I was never hearing about what I wanted to hear. People were randomly sharing their life stories that we didn't hear about until later and we were always being told what happened after the fact.
February 26, 2025
This was a moving dual timeline, dual POV story of one family of non-Jewish Palestinian exiles who are forced out of their country and emigrate to America. Told from New York City playwright Arabella's point of view and that of her grandmother Zoya's, we get to see what life was like for women trying to make lives for themselves in the home country and how being exiled changed things. Arabella is also trying to make a name for herself in the theatre community without everything being all about her Palestinian identity/heritage. Smart, heartfelt and timely, this might not be a book for everyone but it was good on audio narrated by Jacqueline Antaramian and Lameece Issaq.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2025
Category here is deranged girl goes on her odyssey. I liked the first part a lot, but the last bit not that much and the characters were very unlikable. Found myself cringing very hard for how they were all trying to deal with their trauma and grief in the worst way but I guess no judgement, people gotta do what they gotta do. Free Palestine.
« There is a satisfaction in reconciliation, which is the word l am delighted to learn is used for when you've balanced your books, when you can account for every charge and who in your company made them. »
« people who try to convince themselves that my kind either do not exist or do not matter, and who become enraged when we prove we actually do. »
« There is a satisfaction in reconciliation, which is the word l am delighted to learn is used for when you've balanced your books, when you can account for every charge and who in your company made them. »
« people who try to convince themselves that my kind either do not exist or do not matter, and who become enraged when we prove we actually do. »
January 20, 2025
Three generations of Palestinian American women weave a story about motherhood, exile, ambition, art, and theater.
First there’s Zoya, the grandmother, whose journey begins in 1940s Jaffa where she is pulled from school at 15 and bound to an arranged marriage. She’s catapulted from a farm girl living close to poverty into a world of society where she struggles to fit in. At the onset of the war, she must endure a trip across the ocean with her seven daughters and son to Detroit where Palestinian refugees are creating a community.
Zoya’s youngest and most headstrong daughter, Naya, finds herself living in the slums of Detroit in the 1960s, gravitating toward the Black Panthers, counter culture, and sporting an Afro, as she passes for Black. She befriends a gay couple, King Tut and Reginald who, though they love and support her, cannot save her when Naya pulls her from school and marries her to a boy she doesn’t know. With her young husband, she moves to San Francisco.
Arabella is the 35 year old playwright granddaughter living in NYC in the early 2010s. She’s found some success on stage but increasingly desires motherhood, if not marriage. Offered the opportunity to direct a play in Palestine, she decides to return to the homeland, where she is also set to meet the grandson of a man her grandmother knew.
It’s a powerful story showcasing how each generation not only suffers under a suffocating patriarchal system within their own culture but also fights against prejudices pushing against them from outside.
It touches on displacement of Palestinians, the ache of relocation, arranged marriages, motherhood, generational trauma…but it’s also wry and quite funny. These women live through trauma but maintain a sense of humor, a wit and witticism both unexpected and fully understood.
The writing is beautiful and complex, characters deeply drawn, desires fully felt. The gender dynamics represented here are a strength, but what I found most engaging is a universal struggle to both mold yourself in an effort to seek opportunities as it stands in direct competition with a desire to showcase what makes you unique.
These flawed and funny women will remain on your mind long after you finish reading this book.
First there’s Zoya, the grandmother, whose journey begins in 1940s Jaffa where she is pulled from school at 15 and bound to an arranged marriage. She’s catapulted from a farm girl living close to poverty into a world of society where she struggles to fit in. At the onset of the war, she must endure a trip across the ocean with her seven daughters and son to Detroit where Palestinian refugees are creating a community.
Zoya’s youngest and most headstrong daughter, Naya, finds herself living in the slums of Detroit in the 1960s, gravitating toward the Black Panthers, counter culture, and sporting an Afro, as she passes for Black. She befriends a gay couple, King Tut and Reginald who, though they love and support her, cannot save her when Naya pulls her from school and marries her to a boy she doesn’t know. With her young husband, she moves to San Francisco.
Arabella is the 35 year old playwright granddaughter living in NYC in the early 2010s. She’s found some success on stage but increasingly desires motherhood, if not marriage. Offered the opportunity to direct a play in Palestine, she decides to return to the homeland, where she is also set to meet the grandson of a man her grandmother knew.
It’s a powerful story showcasing how each generation not only suffers under a suffocating patriarchal system within their own culture but also fights against prejudices pushing against them from outside.
It touches on displacement of Palestinians, the ache of relocation, arranged marriages, motherhood, generational trauma…but it’s also wry and quite funny. These women live through trauma but maintain a sense of humor, a wit and witticism both unexpected and fully understood.
The writing is beautiful and complex, characters deeply drawn, desires fully felt. The gender dynamics represented here are a strength, but what I found most engaging is a universal struggle to both mold yourself in an effort to seek opportunities as it stands in direct competition with a desire to showcase what makes you unique.
These flawed and funny women will remain on your mind long after you finish reading this book.
August 3, 2025
I actually really enjoyed the experience of reading this book—but overall I think for quality alone I will have to give it a 3.5 rating! this is a multigenerational story of Palestinian women that is effortlessly readable, funny, sexy, and somehow fun while ofc not shying away from historical / current realities. The modern parts of this novel, set in the mid 2010s in Palestine and often referencing Gaza, broke my heart.
However, when it comes to the plot and characters, there are a lot of big holes and flaws here. I do like how all the women in this story were deeply flawed, often annoying and infuriating, but sometimes I found myself struggling to reconcile Arabella’s contradictions (especially her loyalty to Yoav / theater above all else vs. Occupation of Palestine). Actually no one was fully likeable-even some things sweet Baby Aziz said made me gasp.
There was also a lot of clunky exposition, and while I appreciate the older women’s perspectives, they were just so obviously contemporary to me in terms of their worldview that was unbelievable at times. Also the way that Black history and other histories were brought in a
felt very shallow. And one big issue I tend to have with multigenerational stories is that they just feel super rushed. In this novel, the epilogue packs in so much that I felt could’ve been explored in another 100 pages.
Just some initial brain dump! Overall I do recommend this but it is not without issues as a novel!
However, when it comes to the plot and characters, there are a lot of big holes and flaws here. I do like how all the women in this story were deeply flawed, often annoying and infuriating, but sometimes I found myself struggling to reconcile Arabella’s contradictions (especially her loyalty to Yoav / theater above all else vs. Occupation of Palestine). Actually no one was fully likeable-even some things sweet Baby Aziz said made me gasp.
There was also a lot of clunky exposition, and while I appreciate the older women’s perspectives, they were just so obviously contemporary to me in terms of their worldview that was unbelievable at times. Also the way that Black history and other histories were brought in a
felt very shallow. And one big issue I tend to have with multigenerational stories is that they just feel super rushed. In this novel, the epilogue packs in so much that I felt could’ve been explored in another 100 pages.
Just some initial brain dump! Overall I do recommend this but it is not without issues as a novel!
January 13, 2026
I absolutely adore this book! Arabella is a third generation Palestinian American who went to Harvard and directs Shakespeare. Two of my big interests. Palestinian/ Jewish relations and Shakespeare! She goes to Ramallah to direct an Arabic Hamlet with a girl in the lead. I think it’s brilliant.
The book is told from the POV of Zoya, the grandmother, Naya, the mother, and Arabella. The structure is great. The first part alternates between Zoya and Arabella. The second between Naya and Arabella. The Zoya and Naya parts are in chronological order with a lot of interesting detail about Palestine from the Palestinian POV. The Arabella sections are present day.
This is getting my full support in the upcoming Tournament of Books!
The book is told from the POV of Zoya, the grandmother, Naya, the mother, and Arabella. The structure is great. The first part alternates between Zoya and Arabella. The second between Naya and Arabella. The Zoya and Naya parts are in chronological order with a lot of interesting detail about Palestine from the Palestinian POV. The Arabella sections are present day.
This is getting my full support in the upcoming Tournament of Books!
October 11, 2025
The content was so up my alley but something about the writing just didn’t click with this one
November 23, 2025
This didn’t do it for me. I can’t figure out why I am putting these books that don’t turn out to be that good on my “want to read” but I am starting to suspect that the NPR podcast Book of the Day is the suspect.
I learned in the acknowledgments that Geraldine Brooks was the first reader of this and a friend of the author’s from a writing program!
I learned in the acknowledgments that Geraldine Brooks was the first reader of this and a friend of the author’s from a writing program!
February 16, 2025
If I’m crying over my morning coffee, it’s likely because I’m reading the news on the Israel-Gaza war. These days, we hold our breath as we strenuously watch the freeing of hostages and prisoners. And then we somehow find America in the mix, talking about resettling Palestinians and taking over Gaza. Literally why.
So, with that, I gladly picked up Shamieh’s Too Soon. The novel follows and celebrates three Palestinian women: grandmother Zoya, mother Naya, and daughter Arabella. Initially, Shamieh introduces them when Arabella is an adult, and we see the grooves of their ingrained dynamics. As the book progresses, Shamieh gives turns to each woman to take center stage and tell their story. In this way, the three storylines are coming-of-age stories that honor Palestinian foremothers and critically consider the patriarchal customs of the characters’ Arab traditions.
The stand-out themes across each of the three storylines are displacement, immigration, Palestinians’ relationship with Jews (as friends, colleagues, neighbors, partners), the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at large, child brides, women’s rights (reproduction, literacy), colorism, and making art. The overall tone is romantic (almost too much so) and fun—“motherlover!” the women often curse—despite the life-and-death matters.
Although Arabella is our mainest main character, directing postmodern adaptations of Shakespeare in New Year because of her family’s hard work as refugees in America, I enjoyed Zoya’s story the most. She’s resilient, matter-of-fact, self-assured, and will not put up with your crap. After being denied the education she craves as a young girl, birthing eight kids, fleeing Ramallah when Zionists attack, resettling in Detroit, and enduring her husband’s abuse, Zoya earns the right to tell you things straight. And she does with wonderful dark humor. She’s not perfect; she too will wrestle to reconcile her cultural expectations, which she imposes onto her family, and personal desires as a woman. But her story interested me the most.
Naya’s story was the weakest, unfortunately. Shamieh includes interesting thoughts, like comparing Naya’s ability to assimilate into American life and achieve “success” to her Black American friends. She supports Detroit’s Black Panthers and attempts to emancipate herself from her parents. However, despite the book's length, I didn’t think the author spent enough time building Naya’s life. The writing about Naya somehow feels breezed over or underdeveloped, like how she cut off ties with her Jewish mommy bestie for a decade and then simply rekindles this friendship over a cuppa. Her story’s ending felt too abrupt.
The book’s ending disappointed me. Not to belabor the point, but I hoped the story would coalesce more; it could bake for a little longer. Arabella's relationships across the board remain in flux, and the swerve in Arabella’s storyline also demanded too much. Still, I enjoyed picturing the lives of the three Palestinian American women, and Too Soon is now the third theatre related story I’ve come across this year, after Berlinski’s Mona Acts Out (DNF) and, of course, Ross’s Playworld.
So, with that, I gladly picked up Shamieh’s Too Soon. The novel follows and celebrates three Palestinian women: grandmother Zoya, mother Naya, and daughter Arabella. Initially, Shamieh introduces them when Arabella is an adult, and we see the grooves of their ingrained dynamics. As the book progresses, Shamieh gives turns to each woman to take center stage and tell their story. In this way, the three storylines are coming-of-age stories that honor Palestinian foremothers and critically consider the patriarchal customs of the characters’ Arab traditions.
The stand-out themes across each of the three storylines are displacement, immigration, Palestinians’ relationship with Jews (as friends, colleagues, neighbors, partners), the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at large, child brides, women’s rights (reproduction, literacy), colorism, and making art. The overall tone is romantic (almost too much so) and fun—“motherlover!” the women often curse—despite the life-and-death matters.
Although Arabella is our mainest main character, directing postmodern adaptations of Shakespeare in New Year because of her family’s hard work as refugees in America, I enjoyed Zoya’s story the most. She’s resilient, matter-of-fact, self-assured, and will not put up with your crap. After being denied the education she craves as a young girl, birthing eight kids, fleeing Ramallah when Zionists attack, resettling in Detroit, and enduring her husband’s abuse, Zoya earns the right to tell you things straight. And she does with wonderful dark humor. She’s not perfect; she too will wrestle to reconcile her cultural expectations, which she imposes onto her family, and personal desires as a woman. But her story interested me the most.
Naya’s story was the weakest, unfortunately. Shamieh includes interesting thoughts, like comparing Naya’s ability to assimilate into American life and achieve “success” to her Black American friends. She supports Detroit’s Black Panthers and attempts to emancipate herself from her parents. However, despite the book's length, I didn’t think the author spent enough time building Naya’s life. The writing about Naya somehow feels breezed over or underdeveloped, like how she cut off ties with her Jewish mommy bestie for a decade and then simply rekindles this friendship over a cuppa. Her story’s ending felt too abrupt.
The book’s ending disappointed me. Not to belabor the point, but I hoped the story would coalesce more; it could bake for a little longer. Arabella's relationships across the board remain in flux, and the swerve in Arabella’s storyline also demanded too much. Still, I enjoyed picturing the lives of the three Palestinian American women, and Too Soon is now the third theatre related story I’ve come across this year, after Berlinski’s Mona Acts Out (DNF) and, of course, Ross’s Playworld.
September 11, 2025
4.5*
“Some won't want to root for a Palestinian chick wrestling with the best white culture has to offer, miffed that I dare to stage their tragedies as if they were comedies.”
This is a rich and multifaceted depiction of what being part of the Palestinian diaspora means.
Told from the perspective of a Palestinian-American woman being offered to direct Shakespeare in the West Bank, and her grandmother, who remembers how she first came to America after leaving Palestine during the Nakba.
“To act onstage is to revel in the slipperiness of life, to be yourself and not yourself at the same time. It's the one time you can take two journeys at once.”
It's a story that deeply humanizes Palestinians, illustrating complicated relationships with identity and homeland. The struggle of not wanting one's identity to be politicized while also seeing a necessity for it to be. Loving one's homeland while still being able to criticize parts of it. It's a novel that sheds a different light on Palestine than recent pictures might have. It's a Palestine filled with multitude, with colour, and with life. As Palestine should be.
“In the end, I was my mother's daughter. We had never been angels, nor did we aspire to be.”
“Some won't want to root for a Palestinian chick wrestling with the best white culture has to offer, miffed that I dare to stage their tragedies as if they were comedies.”
This is a rich and multifaceted depiction of what being part of the Palestinian diaspora means.
Told from the perspective of a Palestinian-American woman being offered to direct Shakespeare in the West Bank, and her grandmother, who remembers how she first came to America after leaving Palestine during the Nakba.
“To act onstage is to revel in the slipperiness of life, to be yourself and not yourself at the same time. It's the one time you can take two journeys at once.”
It's a story that deeply humanizes Palestinians, illustrating complicated relationships with identity and homeland. The struggle of not wanting one's identity to be politicized while also seeing a necessity for it to be. Loving one's homeland while still being able to criticize parts of it. It's a novel that sheds a different light on Palestine than recent pictures might have. It's a Palestine filled with multitude, with colour, and with life. As Palestine should be.
“In the end, I was my mother's daughter. We had never been angels, nor did we aspire to be.”
October 9, 2025
A sassy, three generational story of Palestinian women working their way through displacement and dispossession, identity and self, womanhood and motherhood, and friendships. Juggling it all, but from a place stolen from them.
Arabella is the New York one, living under the auspices of her parents, as she stomps through a theatre world of competition and opportunity. Wrestling with what she wants next, an offer to direct a play in Ramallah seems her ticket to the big time if she nails it. She is all attitude, New Yorker and theatre sass and bite. A thorny, relatable, hilarious, mid-Thirties women with hopes, dreams, and complications.
Arabella's grandmother, having lost her potential great love through her arranged marriage and escape from the Six Day War, sees Arabella's trip back to Palestine as the perfect opportunity to set up her match with the grandson of that lost love.
Naya, the daughter and mother in the middle, has her own complex diaspora experience in middle to rich America, fitting in, finding her people, and enduring and growing in her marriage. Naya in the second part of this book is fully developed as a real, complicated woman fighting for a best life.
The machinations of the play, the insights into the lives of Palestinians under occupation, the cultural naunces and theatre world, is electrified reading. This is a rich and generous story about Palestinians.
I really enjoyed this, grew to love and be frustrated with each woman at different times, and wonder about them, their histories, and that intergenerational experiences of women, navigating through adolescence, early marriage, motherhood, careers, and friendship. These women, on the foundation of being forced from their rightful homeland.
Arabella is the New York one, living under the auspices of her parents, as she stomps through a theatre world of competition and opportunity. Wrestling with what she wants next, an offer to direct a play in Ramallah seems her ticket to the big time if she nails it. She is all attitude, New Yorker and theatre sass and bite. A thorny, relatable, hilarious, mid-Thirties women with hopes, dreams, and complications.
Arabella's grandmother, having lost her potential great love through her arranged marriage and escape from the Six Day War, sees Arabella's trip back to Palestine as the perfect opportunity to set up her match with the grandson of that lost love.
Naya, the daughter and mother in the middle, has her own complex diaspora experience in middle to rich America, fitting in, finding her people, and enduring and growing in her marriage. Naya in the second part of this book is fully developed as a real, complicated woman fighting for a best life.
The machinations of the play, the insights into the lives of Palestinians under occupation, the cultural naunces and theatre world, is electrified reading. This is a rich and generous story about Palestinians.
I really enjoyed this, grew to love and be frustrated with each woman at different times, and wonder about them, their histories, and that intergenerational experiences of women, navigating through adolescence, early marriage, motherhood, careers, and friendship. These women, on the foundation of being forced from their rightful homeland.
February 17, 2025
This book is so fucking good! I could probably write a long essay about this, but I'm just so overcome and overwhelmed, maybe because I read half of this tonight. It's so layered. So good. Everyone is so well rounded -- not in terms of being good people, but in terms of being good characters. It says so much about Palestine and Israel, but also about being a refugee, an immigrant, a woman director (lovely for me lol), a woman artist, a woman who wants kids and isn't sure how to make that happen with her life. Women who remind me of my grandmother and mother. It makes you think about how our mothers have been through things we'll never really hear about in full.
I don't know. I feel like I'll be recommending this to everyone. A really, really good book.
I don't know. I feel like I'll be recommending this to everyone. A really, really good book.
August 30, 2025
4.5 The three narratives were captivating, especially Zoya, who allowed me to learn more about Palestine history than any history book. I liked how each of the three women were rebellious towards the patriarchal system in their own way, fitting of the time, but, sadly, were also controlled by it. Each generation went a step further to go against it. Brilliant debut, and one I will watch out for in future.
November 23, 2024
I really enjoyed this story. Early on, I felt like I got a really good sense of the characters and I was very invested in their story and seeing how things would play out (especially given the historical lens that this novel operates under). This is a rich and expansive story that explores many of the first hand experiences and consequences of the conflict in Palestine. Getting to witness a first-hand account of these events was really harrowing and the author did a great job of really placing us in the midst of the action and drama and fear that was experienced. Through multi-POVs, we are given insights into 3 generations of women in one family, and explore how they feel and operate in the diaspora. Throughout the novel we get to directly see the different ways that trauma and war has impacted their lives and relationships--and we get to explore the different ways that generational trauma has impacted how the function with each other and how they each approach life and love. This was a very moving story that intricately explores some of the cultural sides of Palestine while also being honest about many of the complex feelings around their history while also weaving in the everyday and interpersonal complexities of life. I think the conversations around womanhood and motherhood were so interesting, especially with the added lens of cultural pressures and generational pressures, and I really felt invested in seeing how each of our FMCs would approach these topics as we moved through their lives. There is rage and frustration that is pivotal to the story and these characters that I really felt for and empathized with, and seeing how they are able to come to terms with themselves and each other was really moving.
I will say that, while I found the plot interesting and each POV added a lot to the overall narrative and my understanding of their experiences, I do think that there were several parts of this book where the pacing was a bit slower than I would have liked. There were some chapters where it felt like we completely stopped the momentum of the book and this made for a staggering reading experience.
I also wanted to dive deeper into Arabella and her relationship with Aziz. I felt like their progression felt a bit jarring to read. And I think part of that is because they spent a chunk of time off-page talking on the phone and getting to know each other, but I didn't really feel like I had a good sense of him or how they were together and then the Aziz we met felt too disconnected from Arabella at times.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for providing me with a digital review copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.
I will say that, while I found the plot interesting and each POV added a lot to the overall narrative and my understanding of their experiences, I do think that there were several parts of this book where the pacing was a bit slower than I would have liked. There were some chapters where it felt like we completely stopped the momentum of the book and this made for a staggering reading experience.
I also wanted to dive deeper into Arabella and her relationship with Aziz. I felt like their progression felt a bit jarring to read. And I think part of that is because they spent a chunk of time off-page talking on the phone and getting to know each other, but I didn't really feel like I had a good sense of him or how they were together and then the Aziz we met felt too disconnected from Arabella at times.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for providing me with a digital review copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.
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February 9, 2025Look, this one might be on me––and The Atlantic, which described this book as "a Palestinian-American Sex and the City." Entering with those expectations, disappointment was really the only possible outcome because this book is very much not that. Half of it's historical fiction, spinning the roulette wheel of all the usual midcentury tropes, and then some, all written in socially enlightened present-day speak (the funniest example might be the gay black man teaching the main character's grandmother English in 1960s Detroit, saying to her: "I'm gay and in an open relationship." ok! sure!) and way too many expository historical info-dumps that absolutely wrecked the pacing (the stuff with Yoav's mother was especially oddly placed and paced), but what really took me out of the novel was that all-too-common historical fiction trope of alternating chapters between the past and the present and having present events uncannily parallel whatever the character's mother or grandmother experienced.
I think I'm going to give Isabella Hamad's Enter Ghost a read next––which is, also!, about staging a performance of Hamlet in the West Bank.
I think I'm going to give Isabella Hamad's Enter Ghost a read next––which is, also!, about staging a performance of Hamlet in the West Bank.
May 31, 2025
I enjoyed this book a lot! But I don’t know that I would characterize it as a book that is *primarily* about putting on a production of Hamlet in the West Bank, which is kinda how it was marketed? I went to Betty Shamieh’s book talk in DC when “Too Soon” was released. I asked her whether there was any dialogue between her and Isabella Hammad, whose “Enter Ghost” is also about a Hamlet in Palestine. Shamieh said no—it was a coincidence that the two novels were released within a few years of each other! After reading both, I can say that I loved each book, but differently. Hammad’s is much more serious, and much more about the play itself. Shamieh’s uses the play as a peg to explore inter generational female relationships. Far more revelatory and interesting to me than the (honestly, very rushed and surface-level) description of the show in Ramallah were the parallel storylines of protagonist Arabella’s mother and grandmother and their acclimation to life in the United States. I don’t necessarily wish Shamieh had included more about Hamlet—but I would have liked her to delve deeper into unspoken tension points in the relationships between Arabella and Yoav and Naya and Esther. Overall, however, this was a witty, riotous read.
February 9, 2025
Too Soon marks Betty Shamieh's stunning debut as a novelist, though she brings years of experience as an accomplished playwright to this richly layered narrative. In this ambitious work, Shamieh weaves together the stories of three Palestinian American women across generations, creating a tapestry that is both intimate and expansive in its exploration of identity, art, and the search for personal freedom.
The Heart of the Story
At the center of this multigenerational saga is Arabella, a 35-year-old theatre director in New York whose career seems to have hit a plateau. When she receives an opportunity to direct a gender-bent version of Hamlet in the West Bank, she finds herself confronting not only professional challenges but also her complex relationship with her Palestinian heritage - something she has carefully kept at arm's length throughout her career in American theatre.
The novel moves fluidly between Arabella's story and those of her mother Naya and grandmother Zoya, each woman facing her own struggles with identity, love, and self-determination. Zoya's narrative begins in 1948 Jaffa, during the Palestinian exodus, while Naya's story unfolds primarily in Detroit and San Francisco during the 1970s and early 2000s. Through these three women, Shamieh examines the varying ways each generation grapples with displacement, belonging, and the weight of cultural expectations.
Strengths and Literary Merit
Compelling Character Development
One of the novel's greatest strengths lies in its complex, flawed, and deeply human characters. Shamieh excels at creating multifaceted personalities who defy stereotypes while remaining true to their cultural contexts. Arabella's struggle between artistic ambition and cultural responsibility feels particularly authentic, as does her complicated relationship with both Yoav, an Israeli American sound designer, and Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor.
Rich Cultural Commentary
The author skillfully weaves political and social commentary throughout the narrative without becoming didactic. The book's exploration of Palestinian identity in America is nuanced and thoughtful, addressing both internal community dynamics and external prejudices. Particularly compelling is the way Shamieh handles the complexity of Arab American identity post-9/11 through Arabella's experiences in the theatre world.
Masterful Structure
The novel's nonlinear narrative structure serves its themes well, with each timeline illuminating the others in unexpected ways. The shifts between perspectives are handled deftly, creating a rich tapestry of experiences that spans decades and continents.
Areas for Improvement
While Too Soon is largely successful in its ambitious scope, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven, particularly in the middle section of the book. Some readers might find the theatrical elements occasionally overshadow the personal narratives, though theatre enthusiasts will likely appreciate these detailed insights into the world of directing and production.
Additionally, while the multiple timelines are generally well-handled, there are instances where the transitions between perspectives could be smoother, requiring careful attention from readers to maintain their orientation in the story.
Themes and Symbolism
Identity and Belonging
The novel expertly explores the complexity of cultural identity, particularly for those living in diaspora. Each woman's story reveals different aspects of what it means to be Palestinian American, from Zoya's direct experience of displacement to Arabella's more removed but still profound connection to her heritage.
Art as Liberation
Theatre serves as both literal setting and metaphor throughout the novel, representing the possibilities for self-expression and transformation. Shamieh's background as a playwright shines through in her nuanced portrayal of the theatrical world and its potential for both personal and political statement.
Love and Legacy
The romantic relationships in the novel are complicated by cultural expectations, political realities, and personal ambitions. Shamieh doesn't offer easy answers but instead explores how love can both constrain and liberate across generations.
Writing Style and Voice
Shamieh's prose is confident and engaging, moving seamlessly between humor and heartbreak. Her background in theatre is evident in the novel's sharp dialogue and strong sense of dramatic timing. The author has a particular talent for creating distinct voices for each character while maintaining a cohesive narrative style.
Impact and Relevance
Too Soon makes a significant contribution to contemporary American literature, particularly in its exploration of Palestinian American experiences. The novel's themes of cultural identity, artistic expression, and generational trauma resonate beyond its specific context, speaking to universal experiences of displacement and the search for belonging.
Final Verdict
Too Soon is a remarkable debut novel that succeeds on multiple levels - as a family saga, as cultural commentary, and as a deeply personal exploration of art and identity. While it occasionally struggles with pacing and transitions, these minor flaws do not significantly detract from the novel's overall impact and achievement.
The Heart of the Story
At the center of this multigenerational saga is Arabella, a 35-year-old theatre director in New York whose career seems to have hit a plateau. When she receives an opportunity to direct a gender-bent version of Hamlet in the West Bank, she finds herself confronting not only professional challenges but also her complex relationship with her Palestinian heritage - something she has carefully kept at arm's length throughout her career in American theatre.
The novel moves fluidly between Arabella's story and those of her mother Naya and grandmother Zoya, each woman facing her own struggles with identity, love, and self-determination. Zoya's narrative begins in 1948 Jaffa, during the Palestinian exodus, while Naya's story unfolds primarily in Detroit and San Francisco during the 1970s and early 2000s. Through these three women, Shamieh examines the varying ways each generation grapples with displacement, belonging, and the weight of cultural expectations.
Strengths and Literary Merit
Compelling Character Development
One of the novel's greatest strengths lies in its complex, flawed, and deeply human characters. Shamieh excels at creating multifaceted personalities who defy stereotypes while remaining true to their cultural contexts. Arabella's struggle between artistic ambition and cultural responsibility feels particularly authentic, as does her complicated relationship with both Yoav, an Israeli American sound designer, and Aziz, a Palestinian American doctor.
Rich Cultural Commentary
The author skillfully weaves political and social commentary throughout the narrative without becoming didactic. The book's exploration of Palestinian identity in America is nuanced and thoughtful, addressing both internal community dynamics and external prejudices. Particularly compelling is the way Shamieh handles the complexity of Arab American identity post-9/11 through Arabella's experiences in the theatre world.
Masterful Structure
The novel's nonlinear narrative structure serves its themes well, with each timeline illuminating the others in unexpected ways. The shifts between perspectives are handled deftly, creating a rich tapestry of experiences that spans decades and continents.
Areas for Improvement
While Too Soon is largely successful in its ambitious scope, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven, particularly in the middle section of the book. Some readers might find the theatrical elements occasionally overshadow the personal narratives, though theatre enthusiasts will likely appreciate these detailed insights into the world of directing and production.
Additionally, while the multiple timelines are generally well-handled, there are instances where the transitions between perspectives could be smoother, requiring careful attention from readers to maintain their orientation in the story.
Themes and Symbolism
Identity and Belonging
The novel expertly explores the complexity of cultural identity, particularly for those living in diaspora. Each woman's story reveals different aspects of what it means to be Palestinian American, from Zoya's direct experience of displacement to Arabella's more removed but still profound connection to her heritage.
Art as Liberation
Theatre serves as both literal setting and metaphor throughout the novel, representing the possibilities for self-expression and transformation. Shamieh's background as a playwright shines through in her nuanced portrayal of the theatrical world and its potential for both personal and political statement.
Love and Legacy
The romantic relationships in the novel are complicated by cultural expectations, political realities, and personal ambitions. Shamieh doesn't offer easy answers but instead explores how love can both constrain and liberate across generations.
Writing Style and Voice
Shamieh's prose is confident and engaging, moving seamlessly between humor and heartbreak. Her background in theatre is evident in the novel's sharp dialogue and strong sense of dramatic timing. The author has a particular talent for creating distinct voices for each character while maintaining a cohesive narrative style.
Impact and Relevance
Too Soon makes a significant contribution to contemporary American literature, particularly in its exploration of Palestinian American experiences. The novel's themes of cultural identity, artistic expression, and generational trauma resonate beyond its specific context, speaking to universal experiences of displacement and the search for belonging.
Final Verdict
Too Soon is a remarkable debut novel that succeeds on multiple levels - as a family saga, as cultural commentary, and as a deeply personal exploration of art and identity. While it occasionally struggles with pacing and transitions, these minor flaws do not significantly detract from the novel's overall impact and achievement.
April 29, 2025
Spanning three generations of Palestinian women, we navigate the world through the eyes of Zoya, Naya, and Arabella as each woman adapts and grow into the world. Spanning 1948 - 2012, we learn the challenges each face with their Palestinian identity through vital conflicts within the United States. Will each new generation oblige to marriage within their Ramallah community? Will racism prevail? To summarize this cleverly written novel is a challenging. This book had me laughing, crying, anger, and inspired.
April 16, 2025
This novel follows three generations of Palestinian American women; Zoya, who following the Nakba migrates to the US with her husband and children; Naya, her rebellious youngest daughter; and Arabella, Naya’s daughter, an independent theatre director who lives in New York. This novel covers so much apart from the intergenerational trauma of colonisation, occupation and dispossession, including class, racism, sexism, tradition, feminism, female friendship, marriage, parenting and so much more. I found it so hard to put down, it was an impressive read for me.
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December 17, 2025narratives about mothers and daughters my beloved. also i need to read enter ghost immediately.
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