Forthcoming 2026
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The Apricot Tree (Black Lawrence Press, Forthcoming 2026)
The Apricot Tree invites us into a collection of linked short stories that reveal the lives of immigrants from different countries who find themselves in the Arab neighborhood of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, NY. At the center is Busyana who arrives from Egypt at an older age and settles into a life within her new community. Her interactions with each person she encounters creates a transformation as they continue on their journey. One by one, each person tells their own story—Adnan, a Palestinian server at the local bakery who has recently arrived from Gaza; Dina, Busyana’s niece who struggles with her sense of identity; Masud, Busyana’s brother who remains in an unhappy marriage; Dominykas, a Lithuanian man who lost his wife; and Anhur, a young Chinese girl who searches for a sense of belonging. We live with these characters as they carry the weight of their lost homes and attempt to make a new life. |