Too SOON, by Betty Shamieh
Monday, AUGUST 24, 6:30 PM
Too Soon follows three generations of Palestinian American women: Arabella, a thirty-five-year-old New York theatre director whose career and dating life are both at a crossroads; her mother Naya, keeping a secret that will upend the family; and her grandmother Zoya, playing matchmaker one last time. When Arabella is offered a chance to direct a risqué Shakespeare adaptation in the West Bank, the family's buried history—fleeing Jaffa in 1948, chasing the American Dream in Detroit and San Francisco, hustling in post-9/11 New York—comes rushing to the surface. Upon learning one of them is living on borrowed time, the three women fight to live, make art, and love on their own terms.
Why we chose it: When the SF Chronicle named it a must-read and The Atlantic called it "a Palestinian American Sex and the City," it got our attention. This one sounded like the perfect summer read: fun and sexy, but with real depth underneath.
Content considerations: Israeli-Palestinian conflict and displacement, refugee experience and loss of home, terminal illness, grief, discussions of abortion, some sexual content.
Why we chose it: When the SF Chronicle named it a must-read and The Atlantic called it "a Palestinian American Sex and the City," it got our attention. This one sounded like the perfect summer read: fun and sexy, but with real depth underneath.
Content considerations: Israeli-Palestinian conflict and displacement, refugee experience and loss of home, terminal illness, grief, discussions of abortion, some sexual content.
PAIRED WITH: Chillable Red (Syrah, Grenache, Falanghina), Terah Wine Co., California, 2024
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The wine: Bright and juicy with flavors of wild strawberry, tart cherry, and a hint of rose petals. Unfiltered, unfined, and full of energy.
The winemaker: Terah Bajjalieh is a Bay Area native who left a finance career to pursue wine. She founded Terah Wine Co. in 2020—starting with 120 cases in a friend's garage—to focus on low-intervention wines that celebrate California terroir and the power of representation in wine. The pairing: Betty Shamieh and Terah Bajjalieh are both Palestinian American women making bold, joyful work on their own terms, one in fiction, one in wine. Purchase the wine by the glass or bottle during Book Club Meeting! |
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BE SURE TO RSVP
Come enjoy some wine and tell us what you thought of the book with an informal discussion. Remember, if you RSVP and attend, you get a Bingo bonus stamp!
raVES & REVIEWS
Oprah Daily Books That Got Us Through 2025; NPR Books We Love 2025
“The novel, which opens in 2012, has all the beats of a romantic comedy—one that unfolds partly in the West Bank. . . . The ribald humor, the over-the-top-ness that Shamieh brings to describing this struggle, reminded me—surprisingly—of mid-century Jewish American writers, especially Philip Roth. . . . These women are all antiheroes of a sort . . . . Shakespeare would approve.” —Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic
“Palestinian-American playwright Shamieh makes her wonderfully brash and sparkling fiction debut with this novel of three generations. . . . Funny, sexy, and often furious, this book fills in gaps in our understanding.” --Oprah Daily
“The novel prompts the reader to ask what it means to participate in a larger story and still maintain a self, and like so much good character fiction, it examines the ways we are complicit in our own troubles. Too Soon is not only right on time, but evergreen.” --Washington Post
“This début comic novel, by an accomplished playwright, stitches together the lives of three generations of Palestinian women as they search for personal freedom. . . . As Shamieh balances her characters’ painful family history and their boisterously funny voices, the women navigate between the ‘push to be modern, radical, and free’ and the ‘pull to find comfort in a community and identity’ born of tradition.” --New Yorker
“This fiercely funny, sexy, and culturally resonant saga follows the interwoven threads of three generations of Palestinian women. . . . A drama about displacement, love, and freedom.” — PEOPLE, “Best Books of January 2025”
“Hope and laughter animate Betty Shamieh’s debut. . . . For a subject so weighty, the novel feels surprisingly effervescent thanks to the witty and resolute women who make up the three main characters. . . . Together, they spin a resonating tale of hope’s potential to survive through terrible atrocity. . . . A page turner that is not only funny and of its time, but also steeped in history, questioning the age-old adage that time heals all wounds.” --BookPage (starred review)
“An astute, engaging portrayal of three generations of feisty, resilient women who are, each in their own way, forced to start over from the bottom and claw their way back to the top.” --San Francisco Chronicle
“For a book titled Too Soon, you will certainly not soon forget these powerful voices Shamieh presents to us.” --Chicago Review of Books
“Shamieh’s tone—present throughout, but strongest in Arabella’s sections—is confiding and chatty, a Carrie Bradshaw if Carrie had to worry about getting detained at Ben Gurion Airport by Israeli guards for eight hours. But this book isn’t fluffy: Its ethically complex characters carry heavy weights. Shamieh refuses easy moral lessons, aiming for complexity and nuance with a light, voicey touch.” --Kirkus Reviews
“Too Soon is about what it means to leave home, what it means to return home, and what happens when home is an elusive concept. Sharp, propulsive, and irreverent, this story is profound without ever becoming ponderous—and I haven’t been this excited about a debut novel in a long time.” —Rebecca Makkai, author of I Have Some Questions for You
“The novel, which opens in 2012, has all the beats of a romantic comedy—one that unfolds partly in the West Bank. . . . The ribald humor, the over-the-top-ness that Shamieh brings to describing this struggle, reminded me—surprisingly—of mid-century Jewish American writers, especially Philip Roth. . . . These women are all antiheroes of a sort . . . . Shakespeare would approve.” —Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic
“Palestinian-American playwright Shamieh makes her wonderfully brash and sparkling fiction debut with this novel of three generations. . . . Funny, sexy, and often furious, this book fills in gaps in our understanding.” --Oprah Daily
“The novel prompts the reader to ask what it means to participate in a larger story and still maintain a self, and like so much good character fiction, it examines the ways we are complicit in our own troubles. Too Soon is not only right on time, but evergreen.” --Washington Post
“This début comic novel, by an accomplished playwright, stitches together the lives of three generations of Palestinian women as they search for personal freedom. . . . As Shamieh balances her characters’ painful family history and their boisterously funny voices, the women navigate between the ‘push to be modern, radical, and free’ and the ‘pull to find comfort in a community and identity’ born of tradition.” --New Yorker
“This fiercely funny, sexy, and culturally resonant saga follows the interwoven threads of three generations of Palestinian women. . . . A drama about displacement, love, and freedom.” — PEOPLE, “Best Books of January 2025”
“Hope and laughter animate Betty Shamieh’s debut. . . . For a subject so weighty, the novel feels surprisingly effervescent thanks to the witty and resolute women who make up the three main characters. . . . Together, they spin a resonating tale of hope’s potential to survive through terrible atrocity. . . . A page turner that is not only funny and of its time, but also steeped in history, questioning the age-old adage that time heals all wounds.” --BookPage (starred review)
“An astute, engaging portrayal of three generations of feisty, resilient women who are, each in their own way, forced to start over from the bottom and claw their way back to the top.” --San Francisco Chronicle
“For a book titled Too Soon, you will certainly not soon forget these powerful voices Shamieh presents to us.” --Chicago Review of Books
“Shamieh’s tone—present throughout, but strongest in Arabella’s sections—is confiding and chatty, a Carrie Bradshaw if Carrie had to worry about getting detained at Ben Gurion Airport by Israeli guards for eight hours. But this book isn’t fluffy: Its ethically complex characters carry heavy weights. Shamieh refuses easy moral lessons, aiming for complexity and nuance with a light, voicey touch.” --Kirkus Reviews
“Too Soon is about what it means to leave home, what it means to return home, and what happens when home is an elusive concept. Sharp, propulsive, and irreverent, this story is profound without ever becoming ponderous—and I haven’t been this excited about a debut novel in a long time.” —Rebecca Makkai, author of I Have Some Questions for You