FINALIST FOR THE 2021 TRILLIUM AWARD - FINALIST FOR THE 2021 EVERGREEN
AWARD - AN INDIGO BEST BOOK OF 2020 - A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST
INDEPENDENT READ FOR FALL 2020 - AN APPLE BOOKS BEST BOOK OF 2020 - A
CBC BOOKS BEST CANADIAN FICTION BOOK OF 2020 - A NOW MAGAZINE TOP TEN
BOOK OF 2020
"Be prepared for this novel to stay with you for a long time,
especially its ending."--GLOBE AND MAIL
"[An] extraordinary book... packed with discovery and jarring
emotional arcs."--TORONTO STAR
"Penetrating and subtle ... [An] immersive, absorbing portrait."--EDEN
ROBINSON
"Explores with courage and storytelling finesse the harsh truths within
the ideals of kinship and community." --DAVID CHARIANDY
"An urgent and passionate read." --VIVEK SHRAYA
"Visceral and emotional... a courageous feat."--QUILL & QUIRE (starred
review)
A brave, soulfully written feminist novel about inheritance and
resistance that tests the balance between kinship and the fight against
customs that harm us.
When Sharifa accompanies her husband on a marriage-saving trip to India
in 2016, she thinks that she's going to research her
great-great-grandfather, a wealthy business leader and philanthropist.
What captures her imagination is not his rags-to-riches story, but the
mystery of his four wives, missing from the family lore. She ends up
excavating much more than she had imagined.
Sharifa's trip coincides with a time of unrest within her insular and
conservative religious community, and there is no escaping its politics.
A group of feminists is speaking out against khatna, an age-old ritual
they insist is female genital cutting. Sharifa's two favourite cousins
are on opposite sides of the debate and she seeks a middle ground. As
the issue heats up, Sharifa discovers an unexpected truth and is forced
to take a position.
