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-the debut novel of an award-winning literary voice. "A gorgeous, gripping novel filled with unforgettable characters."-Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika 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 that her skin was lighter, that her illiterate mother´s Yemeni music was 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.