Stay, Daughter: A Memoir of Muslim Girlhood

"We did not stay in our houses. Not in the way our grandmothers had, or our mothers. We went out a little more and veiled ourselves a little less," begins this coming-of age memoir. Suffused with love, humor and compassion this poignant story gives an intimate glimpse into a traditional Muslim community that has to balance the rules of Islamic orthodoxy with the freedoms and innovations of the Westernized modern world. The narrative follows the history of a community in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) that in the late 19th century, breaks with the traditions of the time to give girls a secular education and permission to go out of their homes. Before long, such independence and exposure to foreign ideas brings heartbreak to many families as their daughters move away from the customs that had once been the norm. Although the book tells the story of a single family, it draws on a situation that almost all Muslims struggle with as they negotiate a changing world where women are no longer who they used to be.