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Ahmed, Saira

Disgraced : forced to marry a stranger. - [S.l.] : Headline Review, 2008 - p. cm.

Brought up in a stiflingly traditional Muslim household inEngland, where the rules are enforced by violent punishments, Saira is watched 24 hours a day. Cut off from modern life, chaperoned to and from school, she is forbidden to have western friends. When an innocent friendship with a boy flourishes, one of Saira's brothers finds out and she is put on the first plane toLahore, punished for dishonouring the family. There the nightmare really begins - Saira is forced to marry a stranger who makes it clear that all he wants from her is sex and a visa. After a hair-raising escape back toEngland, she eventually returns to the family home, but as a virtual slave. Refusing to be beaten, she escapes once more, but with her parents in financial trouble and with one of her brothers running up huge drug debts, Saira is forced to earn money the only way she can: by selling her body. Wracked with shame and guilt at having fallen into prostitution, Saira hits rock bottom, marries again and has a daughter who is the light of her life. Her husband, however, reveals himself to be a brutally violent bully.After one beating too many, Saira flees with her baby daughter and sets about the harrowing ordeal of re-building their shattered lives. is the heart-breaking true tale of a girl who had the courage to break free. It is a story of escape, adventure and survival told by a woman who has finally discovered her true voice.

ISBN: 075531817X 9780755318179

Subjects--Personal Names:
Ahmed, Saira.

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Forced marriage.
Family violence.
Abused women--Biography.
Muslim women--Biography.--Great Britain