Aman: The Story of a Somali GirlThis is the extraordinary first-person account of a young woman's coming of age in Somalia and her struggles against the obligations and strictures of family and society. By the time she is nine, Aman has undergone a ritual circumcision ceremony; at eleven, her innocent romance with a white boy leads to a murder; at thirteen she is given away in an arranged marriage to a stranger. Aman eventually runs away to Mogadishu, where her beauty and rebellious spirit leads her to the decadent demimonde of white colonialists. Hers is a world in which women are both chattel and freewheeling entrepreneurs, subject to the caprices of male relatives, yet keenly aware of the loopholes that lead to freedom. Aman is an astonishing history, opening a window onto traditional Somali life and the universal quest for female self-awareness. |
Contents
Chapter 3 | |
Chapter 4 | |
Chapter 5 | |
Chapter 6 | |
Chapter 7 | |
Chapter 15 | |
Chapter 16 | |
Chapter 17 | |
Chapter 18 | |
Chapter 19 | |
Chapter 20 | |
Chapter 21 | |
Chapter 22 | |
Chapter 8 | |
Chapter 9 | |
Chapter 10 | |
Chapter 11 | |
Chapter 12 | |
Chapter 13 | |
Chapter 14 | |
Chapter 23 | |
Chapter 24 | |
Chapter 26 | |
Afterword | |
Notes | |
References | |
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Common terms and phrases
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