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How She Came to Know
“How She Came to Know” is a bold, unforgettable adult contemporary dramedy that explores identity, faith, love, and the tangled path to self-definition. With sharp wit and emotional depth, it follows a brilliant young scientist as she navigates the pressures of heritage, ambition, and desire in post-millennial America.
At the center is Marwa Al-Hal, the American-born daughter of Egyptian immigrants, whose coming-of-age begins in Lower Manhattan in the fall of 2000. As she moves through high school, college, and into early adulthood, Marwa wrestles with inherited expectations, new freedoms, and the deep bonds of family and friendship. Along the way, she forms a complex and powerful relationship that challenges everything she thought she knew about love and herself.
Spanning fifteen transformative years and punctuated by humor, cultural tension, and tender insight, “How She Came to Know” offers a vivid portrait of a woman forging her identity in a world that keeps trying to define her.
At the center is Marwa Al-Hal, the American-born daughter of Egyptian immigrants, whose coming-of-age begins in Lower Manhattan in the fall of 2000. As she moves through high school, college, and into early adulthood, Marwa wrestles with inherited expectations, new freedoms, and the deep bonds of family and friendship. Along the way, she forms a complex and powerful relationship that challenges everything she thought she knew about love and herself.
Spanning fifteen transformative years and punctuated by humor, cultural tension, and tender insight, “How She Came to Know” offers a vivid portrait of a woman forging her identity in a world that keeps trying to define her.
290 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2025
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December 30, 2025
Well, of course it's in the worst taste to laud my OWN novel, but it's the last of the 2 I'll ever write, so I think I'm kinda beyond disapprobation. This one was signed by a good indie publisher shortly after I began querying for it. It had been accepted [diff title] by another publisher at least 2 years earlier, but while that publisher said she LOVED it, she wanted it to be Y/A and to cut the coda chapter, 10 years later in the main character's story. "HOW SHE CAME TO KNOW from Page Turner Books, Inc. [https://ptbooksinc.com/product/how-sh... follows the backstory (2000-2015) of Marwa Al-hal, one of the “neighbors” in BLUE MONKEYS, the American-born daughter of Egyptian immigrants, as she comes of age in post-9/11 America — navigating family, desire, and belonging with heart and grace. Faith, identity, and love in a world forever changed." I dunno if I can even write a review of my chef d'oeuvre BLUE MONKEYS here at Goodreads ... if it's listed. Both both are quickly/best accessed at https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keyw... I hope some/any of you will seek and find ... both. Read & review? Sigh. Happy New Year.
Displaying 1 of 1 review