(Querying)
Culture shapes us. And then in our bafflement we often define ourselves through this conditioning. Only our choices tell our stories. What we choose in the best of conditions, and in the worst of them, announces who we are and what we aspire to become.
The Trilogy of love (80000 words) is narrated by the three women who refused to be defined by culture. They find refuge in their choices, which were often painful. These choices reflect their desire to choose the paths they wanted. Fatima, who escapes Eritrea amid the occupation of Ethiopian forces, encounters an old love in London, a love that proves to be fragile. Life teaches her lessons that cause her to break free from the repression of culture and religion. Elizabeth wants love, but it demands a lot of sacrifice. An accident soon makes it crumble. She sacrifices her career to go to Saudi Arabia to be with her husband, but soon finds that when people change, you may end up living with a stranger in just one day. And Sadiya, who wants freedom but shudders even at the thought of it, finds the courage to claim it. She was sold to a man like a commodity, but her courage brings her liberation.
These women not only tell their stories, but also the stories of the men in their lives during this journey. It is a journey of love and deception, courage and betrayal, bravery and cowardice. And most of all the conflict between tribal and modern societies.
Imran Omer 