Thirteen-year-old Shaira, bright and ambitious, is to be engaged to a young Asian doctor, Mussavir - who has jouned a volunteer medical corps to serve in Ethiopia (Abyssinia), defending itself from Mussolini's Italian army. Neither of them has much choice, but when the two meet, their apprehesions fall and apart and they fall in love. The engagement takes place, Mussavir sets off for the Ethiopian front, and an unexpectedly cruel fate unfolds for the couple.

This beatuful novel reveals a rare insight into life in early colonial Kenya, from the perspective of an Asian Muslim family. The poignant story of the young Shaira, her innocence caught in the web of larger events, adult concerns, and a restrictive tradition, is sure to capture the heart.

Sophia Mustafa's profile page

Of Kashmiri origin, Sophia Mustafa was born in Indiain 1922 and grew up and went to school in Nairobi, Kenya. She was married in 1940 and moved to Tanganyika (Tanzania) in 1948 with her husband. She was one of the first women members of parliament in Tanzania, where she wrote The Tanganyika Way in 1961. She moved to Canada with her husband in 1989 and lived in Brampton, Ontario.

“fills a critical gap about vanished world.?