From a crooked rib, by: Nouraldin Farah

"God created woman from a crooked rib, and no one tried to straighten it without breaking it." Ibla, an eighteen-year-old camel, escapes from her Bedouin camp in the Somali desert when she discovers that her grandfather has arranged a marriage for her to a man decades older. After fleeing to a nearby city, Ibla tries to carve her way through enormous obstacles, which turn out to pose an even greater and more threatening danger because she is a woman. During her solitary search for a stronghold, she encounters a group of strangers who turn her into a servant or a sexual tool. And while she is pushed from one state of helplessness to another, she must struggle to gain an identity in a world "where women are sold like cattle." Nour Eddine Farah's first and shocking novel, written with full condemnation from a woman's perspective, attacks the traditional values of his people, and is also considered a celebration of the human spirit that does not break. Nour Eddine Farah is one of the most important African novelists of the past twenty-five years, and is regarded as one of the most cultured voices in modern literature. New York Times Nour Eddine Farah is one of the best contemporary African novelists. Sulaiman Rushdie Number of pages: 222