Like some of her friends, 18-year-old Halima, a Muslim, has moved with her family to London, and her horizons are beginning to expand. Then, just as she is about to start university, she discovers her father's secret plan: to marry her to the son of a distant relation in Pakistan who once did him a favor. Halima is to be the repayment of the debt, and it's payback time. The question is, will Halima, who is now immersed in a new life far from her former village, find the inner resources to resist? Or will she give in to the ...
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Like some of her friends, 18-year-old Halima, a Muslim, has moved with her family to London, and her horizons are beginning to expand. Then, just as she is about to start university, she discovers her father's secret plan: to marry her to the son of a distant relation in Pakistan who once did him a favor. Halima is to be the repayment of the debt, and it's payback time. The question is, will Halima, who is now immersed in a new life far from her former village, find the inner resources to resist? Or will she give in to the pressures of family and culture and forsake her new life in London, along with her dreams? This timely book offers an exciting story of courage and friendship set against a background of traditional cultural attitudes in conflict with contemporary feelings. "Payback" questions the custom of arranged marriages and Hindu and Muslim attitudes toward them, while inviting young readers to do the same.
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