Tag: Ismaili family

Mallee Stanley’s—Slow Poison

This is my eighth year at reviewing books I believe deserve a five out of five and I’ve come to that time again when I’m writing about my recently published book, “Slow Poison.”

Here’s the back cover blurb:

In 1960s Tanzania, Aliya is cherished by her grandfather yet overshadowed by a mother who never truly sees her. When political upheaval strips her family of almost everything and tragedy shatters the one bond that sustained her, Aliya is thrust into a life shaped by loss and silence.

A fleeting romance leads to a forced marriage, betrayal and devastating violence. Fleeing scandal, grief and danger, Aliya begins again in Vancouver, but whispers of her past follow and almost everything she has tried to bury refuses to stay hidden.

As buried love and guilt resurface, Aliya must confront the truth she has carried across continents— some pasts cannot be outrun only faced.

The ebook and paperback is available to Amazon.ca

I lived in Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam for several years and will be writing about my time there on my travel blog: https://malleestanley.wordpress.com

Mallee Stanley’s—You can’t clap with one hand

This is my seventh year at reviewing my best reads, but the first time I’m mentioning You can’t clap with one hand. It’s my third manuscript, but the first to be published. The blurb on the back cover reads:

Growing up in a South Asian household in Uganda, Guli becomes an expert at crafting successful schemes to outwit her father and his misogynistic ways. Years later, when Idi Amin seizes power, the Nile becomes a grim stream of death and Guli fails to outsmart her husband. His ambition blinds him and thrusts her in a perilous situation with long lasting consequences.

It was inspired by my time in Uganda during Idi Amin’s rule and I’ve written about some of those experiences on my travel blog on wordpress—From here to there.

Sultan Somjee’s—Bead Bai

During the 1900s in East Africa, Sakina has a happy childhood amongst stories her family tell her of their troubled lives in India, the difficulty of travelling by sea from Bombay to Mombasa and the jamat’s help when they first arrived. It is a detailed historical experience of Asians coming to East African told though the eyes of young Sakina. But when she marries, leaving her loved ones far behind, the only comfort she has from her nagging mother-in-law and constant housework, is Maasai beadwork.

This is the second time I’ve read this book. I could smell the dust and feel the vastness of the landscape through the experiences of Sakina travelling in Kenya early last century. In particular, I loved the beautiful meaning behind the beadwork explained by the old Maasai to Sakina.