Twelve-year-old Amal lived a rather ordinary life in her small Pakistani village with her mother, father and sisters. She dreamed of continuing her education and becoming a teacher. As the oldest, it often fell to Amal to help out with her sisters during her mother’s most recent pregnancy. When her mother gave birth to yet another girl, she fell into a deep depression forcing Amal to delay her education and care for her family. The world as she knew came crashing down one fatal afternoon when she disrespected a member of her village’s ruling family.

To make an example out of Amal and to help pay off the family debt, the Khan family makes her come live as a servant at their estate. The son who is in charge, Jabwad Sahib, is a cruel and calculating man. He rules his villages with an iron hand and issues inhumane punishments to anyone who dares cross him. As Amal’s tenure with the Khan family traverses, she begins to realize the depths of crime and corruption and must soon decide a course of action to take possibly risking not only her safety but that of her entire family.

This is an enlightening book about how women and the caste system often works. It is often hard to believe how such levels of indentured servitude still exist is the world and how often the youngest and most innocent are its victims. Studies show that books can open minds and make one more empathetic as well as educate and this is definitely one such book.