Category: Fiction
Rights: All rights available
Emerging from the interwoven perspectives of two women is an exploration of faith, love, and loss—and what it means to be a Muslim family in contemporary Sri Lanka.
Aisha’s world is turned upside down when her son disappears, and speculation mounts about his possible radicalization. As the frantic search begins, Aisha confronts her past: her imperfect marriage, her ambivalence about motherhood, her failed career dreams, and the longstanding feud with her conservative in-laws. She fears her choices may have shaped her son’s fate. Wrestling with guilt, she must contend with the possibility of losing him forever. How far will she go to save him?
Like her mother, Emaan finds herself returning to the past—growing up in the shadow of her parents’ volatile marriage, playing second fiddle to her brother, her father’s favorite child. Scarred by childhood tensions, she rebels against her upbringing, spurns religion, clashes with Aqib’s religious zeal, and defies taboos on whom to love. But as anti-Muslim sentiments peak and Aqib’s return becomes increasingly uncertain, Emaan must make a choice from which she can never turn back.
The author: Rizvina Morseth de Alwis