Virginia Lee Barnes Knihy

This 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.

This is the intimate first-person account of a young woman's coming-of-age in Somalia. The daughter of tribal leaders, Aman recounts her dramatic life while at the same time illuminating an innocent childhood romance with a white boy that leads to murder; her circumcision ceremony; an unwanted marriage at the age of 13; and her escape to the city where her beauty and curiosity lead her into a world of white men, parties and runaway girls.