Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Beautifully written and packed with the sights and smells of Cholistani nomadic desert life, this is the story of Shabanu, whose name means Princess. Aged 12 she and her older sister Phulan and herself are both betrothed and this book is on one level about Shabanu growing up, but also an amazing depiction of a society and landscape completely alien to a reader in wet, cold, November Scotland, a society where women have to learn to obey and the rule is of father, brother and husband and how a girl can retain herself within those strictures.

After having fallen in love with 'Under The Same Stars', the second book in the three book series (Daughter of the Wind; Under the Same Stars; The House of Djinn) I was eager to read the prequel and I wasn't disappointed.

Under The Same Stars by Suzanne Fisher Staples (published in the United States as Haveli)

Although this is in theory written for older teenagers, I would recommend this well written tale to anyone.

Shabanu was born in the Cholistan area of Pakistan and raised in the desert, Staples' prequel Daughter of the Wind tells this part of the story and of her marriage to wealthy powerful landowner Rahim as repayment by Shabanu's father for his protection.

In Under the Same Stars Shabanu and her daughter Mumtaz are living in constant fear of the cruelty inflicted on them by Rahim's three older wives in their jealously and rage at Shabanu's inability to conform to their social standards. Brief respites are Shabanu's visits to her parents and moving to the family havela in Lahore where she can live in peace away from Rahim's other wives, but it is not long before the strictures of duty to family, where deviation is punished by death, rear up and tragedy returns.

A wonderful story that really educated me about the life of women in a society where they are chattels, have little rights and are effectively bought and sold and falling in love is a hopeless destrutive thing but without stereotyping the men or the women, rather, Staples creates wonderfully rendered characters that you fall in love with. I can't wait to read the sequel, The House of Djinn