Three Stories on Subjugation and Marginalization of Women
The first story is about a newborn who is unwanted by her mother because she is a girl. Njana, the baby's aunt, is horrified when she learns this. Yet, she envies her infant niece because she is born in the mid-1970s. This means her parents won't subject her to Female Genital Mutilation as Njana was in the 1960s.
Except for envy and suffer in silence, there is little Njana can do. After decades of turmoil, however, she gets an opportunity to ease her secret agony. This gives her the courage to open up about the gut-wrenching trauma that she suffered before and during the hideous operation, and the physical and psychological effects and challenges that followed.
In the last story, a senior citizen comes "clean" about her sex life through a stream of consciousness. The woman, like many in her age group, has lost her libido. But she is determined to control her own sexuality irrespective of her husband's wishes and desires.
The book ends where characters settle into roles they believe work best for them under the circumstances.
