About this ebook
An unexpected phone call shatters Indian immigrant Tasneem Zain’s idyllic family life in Sydney.
Her husband has been in a terrible accident. Doctors aren’t sure if he’ll make it.
When Ali dies, Tasneem’s social status changes overnight. People in her community believe that widows are bad luck. They must be shunned and banned from any joyous occasions to avoid their ‘bad luck’ affecting others.
Tasneem is also expected to fade away into the background, and become half the woman she is.
As a widow, she must observe iddah, a compulsory mourning period for Muslim women. Isolated in a room in her home, Tasneem experiences what it means to be an outsider.
Shut away from the outside world, Tasneem prays for her late husband’s soul while struggling with grief and loneliness. As her iddah progresses, she starts searching for a new identity. Who is she and what does she really want?
She also resigns herself to spending the rest of her life alone knowing that’s what’s expected.
But life has something unexpected in store.
About the author
Rashida Tayabali is a features writer and copywriter based in Sydney, Australia. As a young girl she loved writing and reading. She always harboured a secret dream of becoming an author one day and seeing her books in libraries and bookshops. Life after Ali is her debut novel.