Abandoned by her parents, Sameem Ali spent six and a half years growing up in a children's home. When she was told that her family wanted to take her back she couldn't wait to start her new life with them. Instead, she returned to a dirty house where she was subjected to endless chores. Her mother began to beat her and her unhappiness drove her to self-harm. So Sameem was excited when she boarded a plane with her mother to visit Pakistan for the first time. It was only after they arrived i...

A spirited Indian woman falls in love with a writer she's never met, refusing all other suitors. When he appears, he's nothing like she'd dreamed. Her life with him is hell; his vanity and treachery nearly destroy her. She begins an affair with a handsome teacher, threatening her family's honor. Rashida's story unfolds against a sweeping backdrop of Indian history.

Everything about an Indian wedding is signi?cantthe mantras, the sacred ?re in the middle of the altar, the seven rounds around the ?re, and the colors of the brides sari. This day of an arranged marriage for the Sharma family is drenched in heavy rain, but far deeper problems lay within this particular Indian family, who has lived in Canada for the last thirty years.For Gangga Sharma, marrying Subash has been her dreamuntil her wedding day, when her dream turns into a nightmare. F...

A young bride in a village in India obediently marries the man her parents have chosen for her. When she arrives in her new husband's village, she is soon face-to-face with what her future will look like. Her brother-in-law stares at her with hunger, an elder aunt berates her and allows her no joy, and her husband has a job in the far-away city of Bombay.What she doesn't know yet, however, is that she has a gift. A gift that will help her navigate this new life with ease and power....

Jane had a pretty good life. She was a single mother, and she worked hard for her three kids, who meant the world to her. One autumn evening she met someone she believed to be the man of her dreamsthe only thing missing in her nearly perfect life. He was handsome, gentle, quiet, and kind.Eleven months later, they bought a home and were married. Jane was so happy. Soon, however, her daughter, Michelle, began to change; she became distant and withdrawn. Something was wrong, but Jane ...

At age 14, Lori Stephens was thrown out into the streets by her mother. This was the beginning of a life no one deserves to endure, ever.Through her struggle to stay alive, in a world she barely understood. Lori survived the next 30 years of drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, rape, domestic violence, assault, conflict with the Law and jail. See how she was forced to resort to physical violence to stay alive.How she escaped with the courage and the will to stay alive,...

Miss Bangkok is a vivid, powerful and moving memoir of a life spent in prostitution in Thailand. Poor and uneducated, Bua Boonmee escaped an abusive marriage only to end up in the go-go bars of Patpong. There, in the notorious red-light district of Bangkok, she succumbed to prostitution in an effort to support her family.Bua’s story is one of resilience and courage in the face of abuse and poverty. Her confessions will make you laugh and cry, cringe and applaud. She will change you...

The Bride from India is a story of the ambitions and confl icts of the people from different cultures as they melt in the US pot. Manjit and Raj Pandher are Indian immigrants living in Houston, Texas. They succeed in marrying their son, Paul to Simmi from Punjab, after an elaborate Indian arranged matrimonial process, completely oblivious to the surprise awaiting them. On the other hand, the concept of the life in America that Simmi had developed in her mind from TV and internet is not wha...

Escape! From An Arab Marriage, Cassandras first book, includes her personal story and documented stories of other women who became involved with Arab/Muslim men who have come from the Middle East. The women in these stories have learned firsthand the truth of how women are thought of in Islamic societiesthat 6th century traditional abuse and cruelty toward women, alive and well today, is still an everyday part of married life to an Arab/Muslim which includes abduction of any children to co...

Eunsun Kim was born in North Korea, one of the most secretive and oppressive countries in the modern world. As a child Eunsun loved her country...despite her school field trips to public executions, daily self-criticism sessions, and the increasing gnaw of hunger as the country-wide famine escalated.By the time she was eleven years old, Eunsun's father and grandparents had died of starvation, and Eunsun was in danger of the same. Finally, her mother decided to escape North Korea wi...

Auna Raunea was just two years old when her father threatened to stuff her in a potato sack and throw it in the river. It was only the beginning of what would be a twenty-one year journey through hellat the hands of a man she should have been able to trust implicitly. The Innocent and the Merciless is the true story of how a little girl lost not only her purity, but also her childhood, to a father intent on sexually abusing and emotionally torturing his own blood. Forced to sleep on a bare...

A girl trapped by the colour of her skin. A politician desperate to regain power. A family ripped apart.16-year-old Pullamma, with her dark skin, has resigned herself to a limited future in her remote South Indian village. For this reason, she’s obliged her old-fashioned grandmother by not doing well in school. She’s also resigned to remaining unwed. For with three girls in the family, there’s simply not enough dowry to go around.Soon a wedding alliance arr...