Holy Woman

By Qaisra Shahraz

Book Overview

Set in contemporary Pakistan, London, and Egypt, this compelling family drama is a romantic story of love and betrayal in a wealthy Muslim family experiencing conflicts between old traditions and modern life. Zarri, the glamorous 28-year-old daughter of a wealthy landowner, falls in love and wishes to marry Sikander, a business tycoon. Her father, Habib, dislikes Sikander and prohibits their marriage. Soon after, Habib's only son is killed in an accident and he decides to make Zarri his heiress, resurrecting an ancient tradition that requires an heiress to remain celibate for the rest of her life. Unable to marry, Zarri is forced to submit to her father and becomes her clan's holy woman.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1901969126
• ISBN13: 9781901969122
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Arcadia Books
• Length: 566 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Like exotic sweetmeats...

I don't want to give away the plotline but I thought this book was amazing. Very well written and a very compelling story that grips you throughout, takes you into another world. This is a lot better than both Khaled Hosseini books simply because this one is authentic and the characters are very deeply etched and multi faceted. If you want to see a story from that part of the world this is it. Highly recommended!

Mesmerizing book

Qaisra Shahraz takes us on a compelling and unforgettable journey of richly drawn characters caught up in the heartbreaking consequences of the invocation of an ancient and obscure patriarchal tradition. She has treated this sensitive and complex subject with great finesse and subtlety, and the result is a captivating story which offers a rare and balanced glimpse into modern-day Pakistani society. All the characters hold our rapt attention, but the heroine, Zarri Bano, is particularly captivating. This book was hard to put down.

Good work!

Qaisra Shahraz pleasantly surprises with her debut novel. Set in a village in Sind, the readers are taken across the world to Cairo, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, as the story unravels.The university educated heroine, Zarri Bano (ZB) - beautiful and elegant - meets her match in Sikander, a debonair Karachi-based business tycoon. Accepting his proposal, she goes as far as dreaming of setting up a press in Karachi after marriage. But fate and her patriarchal clan catch up with her and her world turns topsy-turvy: her overly possessive father after his only son's death decrees that the stylish ZB devote her life to religion and praying, forbidding marriage to her, so as to keep the family property from falling into "outsiders' " hands. How ZB copes with her new life makes for a very interesting reading. There is a parallel strain in the novel, too, which though less absorbing, provides insight into the lives of village folk. The steadfastness and incredible will power of ZB transcends through the pages - she instils energy in the readers. Once started, the novel is difficult to put down; it awes and beguiles when least expected.

Great Reading

I really enjoied reading Holy Woman. I was amazed about the way a woman would go through. She is one strong woman. When she was happy I was happy!! When she was upset I felt upset as well. I felt like I was feeling what she was going trough. Cant wait to read the sequel "Typhoon" I recommand to ppl to read it.