Songs for the Brokenhearted

Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari is a young Yemeni Israeli woman's dramatic journey through lost family stories, unveiling the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. This debut novel comes from an award-winning literary voice.

"A gorgeous, gripping novel filled with unforgettable characters." — Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award’s JJ Greenberg Memorial Award

In 1950, thousands of Yemeni Jews immigrate 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, encounters Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. Amidst chaos and uncertainty, they fall in love, even though Saida is married with a child. In a society where a married woman must not befriend another man, their love comes with significant risks.

Fast forward to 1995, Zohara, Saida's daughter, is in her thirties and living in New York City—a place that seems less complicated than the Israel she left behind. Growing up, she wished her skin was lighter, her illiterate mother's Yemeni music quieter, and longed for the father who always favoured her but was no longer alive. Avoiding her past, Zohara has seldom kept in touch with her mother or sister, Lizzie, missing out on her nephew Yoni’s childhood. But, when Lizzie calls to inform her of their mother’s death, Zohara boards a plane to Israel with no return ticket.

Soon, Zohara finds herself on an unexpected path leading to shocking truths about her family. These revelations include dangers lurking for impressionable young men and secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage, and her own future.