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The child bride
297 pages
A harrowing yet deeply compassionate true story of a young girl's desperate flight from familial duty into the arms of a safe haven.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels like sitting at a kitchen table with a trusted confidante, listening to a story that breaks your heart before slowly piecing it back together. The narrative moves at a steady, deliberate pace, grounding the reader in the comforting, mundane rhythms of a foster home while a profound, claustrophobic tension simmers just outside the front door. The mood oscillates between the paralyzing dread of a child trapped by cultural expectations and the profound warmth of unconditional, maternal care. Written in an accessible, deeply empathetic prose style, it avoids sensationalism in favor of raw, emotional truth. It is a deeply affecting experience tailored for readers who seek out true stories of resilience, finding hope in the quiet, persistent power of a safe sanctuary.
- Mood
- heartbreaking
- tense
- warm
- anxious
- Tone
- compassionate
- earnest
- urgent
- matter-of-fact
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- sanctuary and safety · honor-based abuse · resilience of youth · cultural collision · the power of a safe home
- The writing
- Accessible, conversational, and deeply empathetic, grounding unimaginable trauma in the comforting rhythms of daily domestic life.
- The arc
- Moves from paralyzing, secretive terror to a cautious, hard-won sense of safety and empowerment.
- Who it's for
- Readers drawn to true stories of resilience, foster care memoirs, and deeply empathetic accounts of vulnerable children finding their voice.
Content notes
- child abuse
- forced marriage
- threats of violence
- emotional abuse
- honor-based violence
About the book
Cathy Glass, author, tells the shocking story of Zeena, a young Asian girl desperate to escape from her family. When 14 -year-old Zeena begs to be taken into care with a non-Asian family, she is clearly petrified. But of what? Placed in the home of experienced foster carer Cathy and her family, Zeena gradually settles into her new life, but misses her little brothers and sisters terribly. Prevented from having any contact with them by her family who insist she has brought shame and dishonour on the whole community, Zeena tries to see them at school. But when her father and uncle find out, they bundle her into a car and threaten to set fire to her if she makes anymore trouble. Zeena is too frightened to press charges against them despite being offered police protection in a safe house. Eventually, Cathy discovers the devastating truth from Zeena, and with devastation she believes there is little she can do to help her.
Description from Open Library.
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