A young Yemeni Israeli woman learns of her mother’s secret romance in a dramatic journey through lost family stories, revealing the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter in the debut novel of an award-winning literary voice

1950. Thousands of Yemeni Jews have immigrated to the newly founded Israel in search of a better life. In an overcrowded immigrant camp in Rosh Ha’ayin, Yaqub, a shy young man, happens upon Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, they fall in love. But they weren’t supposed to; Saida is married and has a child, and a married woman has no place befriending another man.

1995. Thirty-something Zohara, Saida’s daughter, has been living in New York City—a city that feels much less complicated than Israel, where she grew up wishing her skin were lighter, her illiterate mother’s Yemeni music quieter, and that the father who always favored her was alive. She hasn’t looked back since leaving home, rarely in touch with her mother or sister, Lizzie, and missing out on her nephew Yoni’s childhood. But when Lizzie calls to tell her their mother has died, she gets on a plane to Israel with no return ticket.

Soon Zohara finds herself on an unexpected path that leads to shocking truths about her family—including dangers that lurk for impressionable young men and secrets that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage, and her own future.

Ayelet Tsabari is the author of the memoir in essays The Art of Leaving, winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards, a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, and The Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature, and an Apple Books and Kirkus Review Best Book of 2019. She co-edited with Leonarda Carranza and Eufemia Fantetti the anthology Tongues, On Longing and Belonging through Language.

Her first book, The Best Place On Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction. The book was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, Kirkus Review’s Best Debut Fiction of 2016, was nominated for The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and has been published internationally to great acclaim.

A graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio and the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph, Ayelet teaches at the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph, at University of King’s College’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction, and The Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Track in Creative Writing in Bar Ilan University.

Ayelet Tsabari's profile page

"In her new novel, Ayelet Tsabari’s craft is at its apex. Her characters are alive, the story skillfully structured, and the tragic, hidden history of Yemenite Jews expertly woven into the lives of people you will laugh with and shed tears for. To read this book is also to encounter an Israel and Palestine few of us are familiar with nowadays; when words like “peace” and “hope” were common, and nuance and complexity possible. A love song for a time long past, overflowing with emotional intelligence and psychological insight, Songs for the Brokenhearted will break your heart." — Jonathan Garfinkel, author of In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark and Ambivalence

"A gorgeous, gripping novel that asks layered questions about history and politics, nation and borders, even as it pays rapt attention to the fabric of daily life. Where are we from? What has gone missing? Whose stories get told, and whose erased? How do we love in a damaged world? Filled with unforgettable characters, each as flawed and fully human as the next, Songs for the Brokenhearted is a gift.”
— Elizabeth Graver, award-winning author of Kantika

"Ayelet Tsabari is a gorgeous and empathic writer, and her new book, Songs for the Brokenhearted, is one of the most big-hearted, profound, and nuanced novels I’ve read in years. This book broke my heart but, through Tsabari’s masterful writing and beautifully rendered characters, gave me optimism, too. An incredible debut novel by a writer wise beyond her years. I loved it." — Molly Antopol, author of The Unamericans

“In this heartfelt and lyrical debut novel . . . Tsabari artfully plays up the religious and secular contrasts between East and West, and her well-developed characters, dramatic plot twists, and rich descriptions of Tel Aviv will keep readers turning the pages. This is transportive.”
— Publishers Weekly

“A timely, well-crafted tale, imbued with cultural and personal sorrow.” — Kirkus Reviews

"This is the work of an accomplished writer who is certain of her subject and her craft. . . .In this rich tapestry, Tsabari weaves a nuanced tale that eschews absolutes." — Literary Review of Canada

"Masterfully written, gripping, beautiful, tender, complicated. . . .Captivating, moving, and lyrical—a song for our time." — Jewish Journal

"Immer­sive, dis­tin­guished by sharp and agile prose, a remark­able cast of ful­ly real­ized char­ac­ters, and spell­bind­ing sto­ry­telling. . . . An unpar­al­leled triumph." — Jewish Book Council

"Moving, highly recommended." — The Times of Israel

“A richly layered tale of family, love and identity.” — Haddasah Magazine