Meet Khaira, who in her marriage encounters hurdles she never would have fathomed and discovers herself in becoming a pariah.
Meet Noor, a successful woman who breaks up with the man she loves most in the world because of her dedication to God.
Meet Mira, someone who is independent, modern and entirely different to her mother and grandmother, but still tied by the traditions that have guided her family for centuries.
Womanhood cannot be contained or summarised neatly, and each of these three women are fighting to carve out exactly what it means to them. The records of their lives offer insight into generational divides, unspoken duties and unmet needs, and is an honest and moving map for anyone wanting to better understand their place and purpose.
For fans of Three Women, Want and Love in Colour, through stepping into the shoes of each of these women this book will inspire empathy, rage and care and is a manifesto to let women be whomever they want to be.
Interrogating what Womanhood has historically meant, we can shape what it could be in the future.
'Womanhood is the book you didn't know you needed on your bedside table. Tahmina Begum writes for anyone who seeks hope and self-discovery while tethered to a patriarchal norm that too often prevents them from being the main character of their own story.' - Hafsa Lodi
'Womanhood is a beautiful and empathetic portrayal of Muslim feminine identity, community and belonging, and a life-affirming tonic in an increasingly fractured world.' - Sharlene Teo
'Rich and deeply personal. I adored it and read it in one sitting.' - Shahed Ezaydi
'I can't think of anyone better placed to share our stories with the world.' - Zeba Talkhani, author of My Past Is A Foreign Country
'At once intimate and expansive, Begum's lyrical debut gives South Asian Muslim women something they are too often denied on the page: the freedom to be complicated.' - Alya Mooro, author of The Greater Freedom
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Love. Friendship. Family. Faith.
Across eight years and thousands of hours of interviews, Tahmina Begum followed the lives of Noor, Khaira and Moumita: three women living at a crossroads, each weighing the cost of being a Good Woman. In Womanhood, she invites us into their lives.
Noor longs for a marriage that mirrors the loyalty of her parents' world and the openness of her own. After a long negotiation between her heart and faith, she decides to leave the man who is perfect in every way but one.
Khaira, once the girl in bedazzled jeans and heeled sandals, is twenty years into a life built at great cost. Expectations written long before her birth have shaped her into someone she no longer recognises. Now, she must decide who she wants to become.
Moumita strives to be a modern woman even as tradition tugs at her. When a cherished friendship fractures, she begins to question where friendship belongs in a life so often defined by marriage and family.
Together, their stories illuminate questions that resonate far beyond their own stories. What do we inherit from the women who came before us? How do we balance duty with desire?
Richly observed and profoundly moving, Womanhood is an unforgettable exploration of identity, belonging and how we find our way home to ourselves.
