In her Bangladesh village, ten-year-old Naimi excels at painting designs called alpanas, but to help her impoverished family financially she would have to be a boy--or disguise herself as one.
Explores genocide and persecution in East Pakistan, including the historical/cultural background of events leading up to and including the 1971 civil war which resulted in an independent Bangladesh, issues surrounding the civil war including, systematic rape, the status of freedom fighters, the issue of refugees and war crime trials.
Nanzeen, married off to an older man, moves from her Bangladeshi village to live with him in London in the 1980s and 1990s, where she raises a family, learns to love her husband, and comes to a realization that she has a voice in her own life.
