~ INTERVIEW
Shabnam was interviewed by Janet A. Martin of Washington Independent Review of Books
What did you hope to gain by the publication of your book?
SHABNAM: Coming from a culture of silence where being a girl and a woman has already defined you, it is my hope that my words and my book will reach out to those still struggling, who want to be heard, but are afraid, to let them know that they are not alone…
My book has finally freed me from the thought that governed almost all my actions: “Oh, what will they think of me?” I am finally proud to be me, flaws and all. In my present life, it has made me more open to myself. I no longer live under a veil.
~ TWO COVERS
Available online on
amazon.com & barnesandnoble.com
Books are also available at independent local book stores across the US.
Available online on
crossword.in
Books are available at all Crossword Book stores in India.
Available online on
amazon.com & barnesandnoble.com
Books are also available at independent local book stores across the US.
Available online on
crossword.in
Books are available at all Crossword Book stores in India.
~ EXCERPTS
Shabnam’s favorite passages from her memoir
~ 1 ~
WHEN I DECIDED to write my story, I did it to prove that I exist.
The title of my book, A Fractured Life, came to me while I sat one day to examine every decade of my life for the last five decades. Every decade that I paused and reflected on, there seemed to be a split, a splint, a tear, a rupture, and a fracture.
Every decade was connected. Every year in chronological order that led to a decade, had heartbreak, confusion, darkness, questions and most times, dark murky secrets that were either mine or passed down from a generation or two.
~ 2 ~
MY MOTHER CAME back to Cuttack when I was five. The reason I say that with such certainty is because my mother left home again when I was seven. In my life, I have a lot of Before-My-Mother-Left moments, and After-My-Mother-Left Moments. That is how I keep track of my history and weave my story together.
~ 3 ~
WE GOT ON to that train heading to Delhi, where our international flight was to leave about a week later, with six suitcases between us. That was all that we could pick up from our lives and take with us. The turnout at the station was tremendous. There was not a single dry eye.
With the train slowly chugging out of the station, the words out of Arun’s mouth were scary and ominous. “I will never let you leave. I know you think you can go to America and be happy.”
~ AMAZON REVIEWS
Nice words about the memoir
» THE STORY IS TOLD in a compelling voice about a child’s heart bleeding, open and raw after being abandoned by both parents. Loneliness and neglect are her constant companions. The scene in which she as a little girl wraps her arms around her mother’s knees only to be disentangled by her own mother, allows the reader to feel the devastation of such rejection. «
» SHABNAM WRITES from the heart! A courageous woman who believed in herself despite her circumstances. A story of hope and victory! «
» Oprah needs to make this her book of the YEAR! «
» A BOOK THAT reads simply, hiding behind the matter of fact text, the trauma that haunts generations. At a time when children are being separated from families at our borders, this is a haunting tale of what that trauma looks like, what toll it takes on people and the families that come from them. «