“Marry, don't marry,' Auntie Aya says as we unfold layers of dough to make an apple str”

“Who am I?" she snaps. "I am America, Israel, England! What am I doing?" She waits another long moment, her eyes shining. "I'm shutting up and listening." She draws the last word out so it hisses th...”

“Dad says that everyone invented baklava. It occurs to me now to wonder what that means. Aunt Aya rolls her eyes.Your father? He is the worst of the worst. He thinks he cooks and eats Arabic food bu...”

“Dad says that everyone invented baklava.” It occurs to me now to wonder what that means. Aunt Aya rolls her eyes.“Your father? He is the worst of the worst. He thinks he cooks and eats Arabic food ...”

“Children betrayed their parents by becoming their own people.”

“But marrying within one's own family can get monotonous. One has heard all the same family stories, knows all the jokes and all the same recipes. No novelty.”

“She took comfort in the familiarity of his smell, knowing that if she lost all her possessions and her home, at least she would have her family.”