A compelling glimpse into a captivatingly exotic world of myth and magic.Beguiled by promises of wealth, fourteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her native Ceylon for Malaya and marriage to a man many years her senior. But Ayah has lied to her and her family about his circumstances and in fact he lives in poverty. A woman of formidable energy and intelligence, Lakshmi provides security, if not luxury, for her family, though at a considerable emotional cost. Then the Japanese army invades ...

A breathtaking and absorbing novel set in Malaysia propelled by the superb storytelling instinct of the author of THE RICE MOTHER.Parvathi leaves her native Ceylon for Malaya and an arranged marriage to a wealthy businessman. But her father has cheated, supplying a different girl's photograph, and Kasu Marimuthu, furious, threatens to send her home in disgrace. Gradually husband and wife reach an accommodation and the naïve young girl learns to assume the air of sophisticated mistr...

THE BALINESE TWINS - Beautiful and exotic, they exchange an island paradise for the shabby squalor of London, and innocence for corruption. THE SICILIAN - Ricky Delgado strikes a devil's bargain with a blood goddess: 'Build my temple and bring me the souls of damaged people, and you will see what rewards I give.' THE COURTESAN - Elizabeth makes her living from men's desire. With a flick of the switch in her head, she feels nothing: no pain, no hate, no sorrow, no joy. THE ARTIST - Anis tak...

The Newbery Honor winner about a heroic Pakistani girl that The Boston Globe called “Remarkable . . . a riveting tour de force.”Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sis...

Pree Fincastle, daughter of impoverished British missionaries in India, is left alone and destitute when tragedy strikes. She embarks on a journey in search of Kai, the son of her mother's ayah, and the only person she can trust. But Kai is not the man Pree thought he was, and the secrets he holds will unlock the door to another world, another time - and, shockingly, another life. From the whispering Ravi River to the hidden heart of the Peshawar, this is a story of penury and prostitution...

A young American woman's journey to track down her missing lover becomes an enthralling adventure of mystery, passion, danger and self-discovery set against the spellbinding backdrop of 1930s Marrakech. Sidonie O'Shea enjoys the quiet life she shares with fiancé Etienne Duverger in upstate New York. But when Etienne suddenly disappears without word, she finds a letter amongst his belongings that turns her world upside down. Refusing to believe that Etienne would abandon her, Sidonie travel...

MANNY WANTS TO BE A FOOTBALLER. OR A POP STAR. OR WRITE A BESTSELLER. HE DOESN'T WANT TO GET MARRIED...'Harry and Ranjit were waiting for me - waiting to take me to Derby, to a wedding. My wedding. A wedding that I hadn't asked for, that I didn't want. To a girl who I didn't know... If they had bothered to open their eyes, they would have seen me: seventeen, angry, upset but determined - determined to do my own thing, to choose my own path in life...'Set partly in the UK an...

The world of Newbery Honor book Shabanu is vividly re-created in this novel of a young Pakistani woman's heartbreaking struggle against the tyranny of custom and ancient law. Shabanu, now a mother at 18, faces daily challenges to her position in her husband's household, even as she plans for her young daughter's education and uncertain future. Then, during a visit to the haveli, their home in the city of Lahore, Shabanu falls in love with Omar, in spite of traditions that...

The Moonlit Cage is the spellbinding story of Darya, a young Afghan girl, cursed, worthless and despised by her husband and her family, who embarks on the journey of a lifetime - one that takes her from the unforgiving valleys and mountains of her homeland to 1850s London, the heart of the mighty British Empire.

What makes a marriage-love or compatibility? Passion or pragmatism? Shobhan Bantwal's compelling new novel explores the fascinating subject of arranged marriage, as a young Indian-American woman navigates the gulf between desire and tradition. . .To Soorya Giri, arranged marriages have always seemed absurd. But while her career as an environmental lawyer has flourished, Soorya is still a virgin, living with her parents in suburban New Jersey. She wants to be married. And she is fin...

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...

Life as Zeba knows it could be over for good . . .Zeba Khan is like any other sixteen-year-old girl: enjoying herself, waiting for exam results . . . and dreaming of the day she'll meet her one true love.Except her parents have other plans.In Pakistan for the summer, Zeba's world is shattered. Her future is threatened by an unthinkable - and forced - duty to protect her father's honour.But does she hold the secrets that will help her...