A Woman is Not a Man

Eighteen-year-old Deya Raad lives in New York - "the city of unlimited opportunities." But she has no mobile phone, no computer, and no friends.
She can only leave home to go to school and the nearest store - Arab girls must behave according to traditions, even if they were born and raised in America. Their main ornament is modesty, their destiny - early marriage, service to their husband, raising children.
Although Deya dreams of entering university, her strict grandmother and grandfather insist on an immediate marriage. The girl realizes that she is destined to repeat her mother’s fate, who was once also married off without asking and sent from Palestine to America. But one day Deya receives a letter that will give her the chance to decide how her future life will be.
Itaf Ram was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of Palestinian immigrants, where she is the eldest of nine children. She holds a Master’s degree in Humanities (American and British Literature) from North Carolina State University, where she teaches English language and literature. She is raising two children. "A Woman is Not a Man" is her first book.