Membhabi

This is an autobiography of a young English girl who came to Pakistan during the 1950s as the wife of a Pakistani government officer. Her story begins with her arrival in Karachi and takes the reader right up to almost the present day. The author’s account takes the reader to both East and West Pakistan and vividly depicts the trying experiences she and her family endured in Dhaka during the tumultuous and bloody political events that led to the birth of the new nation, Bangladesh. Membhabi offers an intimate view of Muslim family life, of the rituals and obligations that hold the extended family together – and what separates them. The title of the book reveals, as nothing else can, the pain she felt at being called Membhabi (derogatory term for white sister-in-law) by members of the family instead of Sejo Bhabi (Third sister-in-law). Although the end of her story is hopefully, some years off, the book had to come to an end if it was to see the light of day. .