
Songs for the Brokenhearted
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Ayelet Tsabari
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Assaf Cohen
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Yossi Zabari
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By:
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Ayelet Tsabari
About this listen
A young Yemeni Israeli woman learns of her mother’s secret romance in a dramatic journey through lost family stories, revealing the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter—the debut novel of an award-winning literary voice.
“A gorgeous, gripping novel filled with unforgettable characters.”—Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD’S JJ GREENBERG MEMORIAL AWARD
1950. Thousands of Yemeni Jews have immigrated to the newly founded Israel in search of a better life. In an overcrowded immigrant camp in Rosh Ha’ayin, Yaqub, a shy young man, happens upon Saida, a beautiful girl singing by the river. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, they fall in love. But they weren’t supposed to; Saida is married and has a child, and a married woman has no place befriending another man.
1995. Thirty-something Zohara, Saida’s daughter, has been living in New York City—a city that feels much less complicated than Israel, where she grew up wishing that her skin was lighter, that her illiterate mother’s Yemeni music was quieter, and that the father who always favored her was alive. She hasn’t looked back since leaving home, rarely in touch with her mother or sister, Lizzie, and missing out on her nephew Yoni’s childhood. But when Lizzie calls to tell her their mother has died, she gets on a plane to Israel with no return ticket.
Soon Zohara finds herself on an unexpected path that leads to shocking truths about her family—including dangers that lurk for impressionable young men and secrets that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, her heritage, and her own future.
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Critic reviews
“Songs for the Brokenhearted is immersive, distinguished by sharp and agile prose, a remarkable cast of fully realized characters, and spellbinding storytelling. And when it comes to bearing witness to the vibrant history and culture of generations of Israel’s marginalized groups, the novel is an unparalleled triumph.”—Jewish Book Council, Book Club Pick
“Ayelet Tsabari is a gorgeous and empathic writer, and her new book, Songs for the Brokenhearted, is one of the most bighearted, profound, and nuanced novels I’ve read in years. This book broke my heart but, through Tsabari’s masterful writing and beautifully rendered characters, gave me optimism, too. . . . An incredible debut novel by a writer wise beyond her years. I loved it.”—Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans
“In her new novel, Ayelet Tsabari’s craft is at its apex. Her characters are alive, the story skillfully structured, and the tragic, hidden history of Yemenite Jews expertly woven into the lives of people you will laugh with and shed tears for. To read this book is also to encounter an Israel and Palestine few of us are familiar with nowadays, back when words like ‘peace’ and ‘hope’ were common, and nuance and complexity possible. A love song for a time long past, overflowing with emotional intelligence and psychological insight, Songs for the Brokenhearted will break your heart.”—Jonathan Garfinkel, author of In a Land Without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark
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Watch Us Shine
- A Novel
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett, Nan McNamara
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Cornelia Brown is reeling from a terrifying act of violence when she gets word that her mother has been badly injured in an accident. Cornelia returns to Virginia, to the house she grew up in, and in the weeks that follow, she watches her mother Ellie struggle to recover, fluctuating between her usual crisp, can-do clarity and periods of delirium during which she seems haunted by a devastating loss from her past. In grief-stricken tones, Ellie begs Cornelia to bring her the Northern Lights, and despite her confusion at this mysterious plea, Cornelia vows to do so.
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Great story
- By KAT-AQ on 09-23-24
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Israel Alone
- By: Bernard-Henri Levy
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Weaving in fifty years of experience with Israel, Bernard-Henri Lévy analyzes global responses to October 7, the new virulent waves of the oldest hatred in the world: anti-Semitism, why Israel is waging this existential war against barbarism alone, and what’s at stake for Israel and the world.
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In the Time of Our History
- By: Susanne Pari
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths. While Ana, sweet and dutiful, bowed to their domineering father's demands and married, Mitra rebelled, and was banished.
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Enjoyable
- By J. E. Jordan on 05-23-23
By: Susanne Pari
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The Eights
- By: Joanna Miller
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its one-thousand-year history, Oxford University officially admits female students. Burning with dreams of equality, four young women move into neighboring rooms in Corridor 8. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto—collectively known as The Eights—come from all walks of life, each driven by their own motives, each holding tight to their secrets, and are thrown into an unlikely, unshakable friendship.
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Characters including Oxford.
- By Margaret Hansen on 04-28-25
By: Joanna Miller
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The Gates of Gaza
- A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel's Borderlands
- By: Amir Tibon
- Narrated by: Amir Tibon
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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On the morning of Saturday, October 7, Amir Tibon and his wife were awakened by mortar rounds exploding near their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a progressive Israeli settlement along the Gaza border. Soon, they were holding their two young daughters in the family’s reinforced safe room, urging their children not to cry while they listened to the gunfire from Hamas attackers outside their windows. With his cell phone battery running low, Amir texted his father: “They’re here.”
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I could not stop listening
- By Nancy on 10-15-24
By: Amir Tibon
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Behind You Is the Sea
- A Novel
- By: Susan Muaddi Darraj
- Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri, Ali Nasser
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America. Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose own family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers. Meanwhile, Marcus Salameh confronts his father in an effort to protect his younger sister for “dishonoring” their name.
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Beautiful
- By Melahdeedah on 02-20-24
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The Path of Thorns
- By: A.G. Slatter
- Narrated by: Louise Williams
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible—and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to make it choke. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan—and who will suffer most if she does.
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fantastic
- By Deemarie on 01-13-25
By: A.G. Slatter
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The Incorruptibles
- A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld
- By: Dan Slater
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early 1900s, prior to World War I, New York City was a vortex of vice and corruption. On the Lower East Side, then the most crowded ghetto on earth, Eastern European Jews formed a dense web of crime syndicates. Gangs of horse poisoners and casino owners, pimps and prostitutes, thieves and thugs, jockeyed for dominance while their family members and neighbors toiled in the unregulated garment industry. But when the notorious murder of a gambler attracted global attention, a coterie of affluent German-Jewish uptowners decided to take matters into their own hands.
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Very Entertaining/Researched
- By ptr on 02-23-25
By: Dan Slater
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Night Watch
- A Novel
- By: Jayne Anne Phillips
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Theo Stockman, Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War.
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Beautifully written historical novel
- By shastamax on 01-14-24
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The Book of Elsewhere
- A Novel
- By: Keanu Reeves, China Miéville
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner, Asia Kate Dillon, China Miéville, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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There have always been whispers. Legends. The warrior who cannot be killed. Who’s seen a thousand civilizations rise and fall. He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as “B.” And he wants to be able to die. In the present day, a U.S. black-ops group has promised him they can help with that. And all he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself. One at least as strong. And one with a plan all its own.
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Confusing at first but quite amazing
- By Brett on 07-27-24
By: Keanu Reeves, and others
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The Safekeep
- By: Yael van der Wouden
- Narrated by: Stina Nielsen, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.
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This One Should Win
- By K. Bella Bestia on 10-13-24
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Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
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Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
What listeners say about Songs for the Brokenhearted
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-07-25
Surprisingly good!
I approached it as a book club chick lit narrative of a young adult woman adrift in NYC- my error. I quickly became engrossed in the interwoven stories of the Yemeni immigration (or in gathering) to Israel and the difficulties assimilating into the dominant Ashkenazi European culture, with the protagonist struggling post divorce with her academic and personal identity. Together with a back and forth in time thwarted romance, too.
It is extremely well written and extraordinarily performed on Audiobooks. High marks!
Wm R Greenfield MD
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- Baboo TH
- 04-24-25
wonderful story
many facts that i was not aware of although i was raised in israel and thought i know a lot about the immigration from Arab countries
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- Nancy
- 12-27-24
Historical fiction, Sad and Fascinating
I loved the book, which has a structure that is unusual, with three individual’s voices (and three corresponding narrators) telling the story, winding together like the voices of a complicated yet harmonious song. The historical period covers Israel, 1950-1995. The history of the Yemeni Jews in Israel, a Yemeni family history, and the tragedy of the Oslo years form the detailed backdrop of the narrative by three voices, Zohara, the distant, younger daughter of Saidi, Yoni the favored grandson of Saida, and Yaqub, the secret lover of Saida, speaking upon the death of Saida. This is one book that actually works better as an audio book.
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- Melanie Mahler
- 09-30-24
such a heartfelt wonderful human read
I don't know what I expected but WOW, this book is so touching with such a gripping real story. loved it!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Salde
- 02-14-25
The love story of Yakov and Saïda.
I loved the whole book from start to finish! The narrators made it so enjoyable to listen and never lost my attention.
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- Penny
- 04-05-25
Beautiful
Beautiful story and wonderful narration.
Didn’t want it to end!
The story felt very familiar and believable and I enjoyed every moment .
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- S. Price
- 12-15-24
heartfelt story about love and loss
A story of love and loss and finding one self again across generations, The book tells the story of a young Yemeni woman, Zaida, whose family flees Yemen for Israel, and finds not the promised milk and honey but the hard life of the refugee. Told by her daughter, Zohara, whose own story includes a stay in a prestigious Ashkenazi high school that distances her from her Mizrahi identity. The book begins as Zohara returns from school in the United States to mourn her mother's passing, Through the work of cleaning her mother's apartment, Zohara finds clues to a hidden life both sweet and sorrowful. In unearthing and claiming her mother's story, Zohara is able to unearth and claim her own identity. Beautifully written, beautifully read.
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1 person found this helpful
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- dale atkins
- 01-05-25
Yemini life and cultural appreciation
Worth reading: one love story constrained by “the times” and another evolves with an acceptance of oneself and one’s culture —- a touching Intergenerational view of a Yemini’s family life in Israel through the eyes of a daughter who learns her mom’s secrets after her mom’s death.
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