Secrets Under the Olive Tree
A Novel

Nevien Shaabneh

“We are a people who tell stories, Layla. You will now have your own story to tell.”

Layla Anwar is a young Palestinian born into a land plagued with an apartheid regime. She knows all too well what it means to be an outcast in a country she calls home. Layla is also an outsider within her village and family. Whispers surround her growing up, ones that mask the secrets her family has kept for generations. Secrets continue to plague Layla’s adolescence and young adult life after the move to America, as the monsters of her past threaten to break the relationships she most cherishes. Layla uncovers the unholiest of secrets on her path to redemption and discovers the truth of her family’s history.

Secrets Under the Olive Tree is a haunting, mesmerizing novel that touches on the depths of the human spirit and the unbreakable bonds that transcend tragedy. It is a story about the power of hope and second chances in the midst of life-altering tribulations.

ISBN: 978-1-940503-09-7
$18.95 | 256 pp. | A Paperback Original