Songs for the Brokenhearted: A Novel

Songs for the Brokenhearted follows two timelines in the lives of Yemeni Israeli women. In 1950, Yaqub, a shy young man in an overcrowded immigrant camp in Rosh Ha'ayin, falls in love with Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. Their romance develops despite Saida being married with a child—a relationship considered inappropriate in their community. Forty-five years later in 1995, Zohara, Saida's adult daughter, lives in New York City after leaving Israel years earlier. She has distanced herself from her mother and sister Lizzie, and missed much of her nephew Yoni's childhood. When Lizzie calls to inform her that their mother has died, Zohara returns to Israel without a return ticket. Back home, Zohara uncovers unexpected truths about her family history, including dangers affecting young men in her community and secrets that challenge her understanding of her parents, her heritage, and her own future. The novel explores the bond between mother and daughter through lost family stories. This debut novel by Ayelet Tsabari won the National Jewish Book Award's JJ Greenberg Memorial Award.