Women and Disability

joys. We meet Kubi Bibi who secretly secures a love potion for her shamed deserted daughter; Banessa, one of the destitute village woman, who entertains everyone with her loud, vulgar songs; the young bnde Hushnia, who goes into a swoon in an attempt to avoid her wedding day; and Abdul Hasain, the Quranic scholar who, when possessed of a jiin, forgets every word he has ever studied. The most thought provoking issue the book raises is how the two cultures British and Bangladeshi interact. Katy soon finds she is just like a baby' (to quote one of her new sisters) and she doesn't know how to behave in a respectable and cultured way. She comments wryly on her own dumsy attempts to adapt, fit in and adjust my own personal taboos'. Her questioning of her own cultural values and assumptions forces us to look more deeply at the cultural baggage we all carry around with us.U