A Thousand Orange Angels

From the sky Lahore looked like thousands of orange angels had descended upon it, but as our plane cut through the darkness towards the lights, the deception revealed itself. We flew so low over the roofs of clusters of poorly constructed shanties or makeshift homes that even from the plane it reeked of poverty. I could only imagine what their sleepy inhabitants felt and heard when the plane flew over them. It was two in the morning when our feet finally touched Pakistani soil for the first time, the country we hoped to call home forever. Even in the darkness, the heat was unbearable and the air felt strangely unfamiliar. I could have sworn that we were on another planet – a hotter, drier planet. Sajid led us from the plane to the airport terminal while Zahra and Amar, their excitement palpable, walked as fast as their little feet would allow. Readjusting from sleep, their young eyes kept darting around, taking in as much of their new surroundings as possible. A strong and compelling novel that spans two continents and tells the tale of two women, betrayed and deceived by one man. Mariam Damas, a South African woman was lured into a relationship with a foreigner. She moves to Pakistan to live with her husband and his second wife. She had not expected that it was going to be easy but it soon becomes unbearable when her husband tells her that he has spent ten years in South Africa with her and he now has to dedicate ten years to his second wife in Pakistan. What follows is a milieu of dominance and fear. She finds herself trapped with her children in a foreign country. Escaping Pakistan is the only way to freedom…but is it possible in a part of the country where women don’t venture out. “This account of a woman’s harrowing journey to freedom has a ring of authenticity. The author writes with both passion and compassion, engaging the reader and making him or her part of her cause. The author’s descriptions are so real and immediate that one can truly feel Mariam’s suffering, fear, betrayal and humiliation. Some descriptions of both everyday scenes and life in a foreign country are so vivid that you feel as though you are actually there; an outsider in a home that is not your own. Perhaps through this book other women will be encouraged to follow her example and stand up for their rights.” - Editor’s comment About the author Rania Owais is an alumnus of the Random House Struik Creative Writing course and is currently busy with her second novel.