Daughter of Dust: Growing Up an Outcast in the Desert of Sudan - Brossura

Wendy Wallace is an award-winning freelance journalist and writer based in London, whose articles have appeared in the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Scotsman. This is her first novel.

The girls at school are different from us. They have shiny skin and plump arms and smell of Lux soap. I live at the Institute for the Protected. We wake to a bell, scramble to get our share of food. This is my life, given to me by God's will. I won't let it go.
Born in the desert city of Khartoum, Leila understands from early on that she is not part of normal Sudanese society. At school, she and best friend Amal are called 'daughters of sin'. But growing up under the strict discipline of nannies, Leila has no answer to the question 'Who am I?' Her pretty sister Zulima is married off to a much older man while, at the age of ten, Leila and Amal undergo female circumcision.
Leila goes on to marry, have four children, and divorce - and even grown up she continues to know the stigma of being abandoned. Yet her spirit remains strong, and despite her struggle she speaks of the beauty and joy of life, and of her love for her children and friends.
This beautifully written, graceful memoir brings to life the colour and sensuality of the North African desert and tells of the true friendship born out of adversity.
[biogs if room]
Leila Aziz was born in Sudan in 1969, where she still lives, working with her charity that campaigns to dispel prejudice against those considered outcasts.
Wendy Wallace is an award-wining journalist and writer. She has visited Sudan over many years writing for the United Nations and others and lives in London.