Life of a Jewish Girl in Yemen

The Tainted Shadow by Maleeha Kamal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sarah seemed to be doomed to a life of solitude and pain. Born and raised in the poor village of Rawa, she helps the family survive by selling dolls. All the while dreaming of making money at doing herbal facial masks. Her father Andrew is an alcoholic and beggar king, who farms his wife out as a prostitute. Sara is also Jewish. Her life and fate take a sudden turn when her father sells her off into slavery. Her younger sister sneaks on board and both are fortunate enough to be maids for a kind Sheik who ships coffee. During their tenure they befriend Lulu, and Rawia. Sara puts her doll making skills to good use. After living their for 10 years the sheik Atif falls in love with her. They are set to get married but intrigue and disaster get in the way. The story is a work of fiction no doubt. The writing is choppy at time with character coming into the story without proper introduction. The plot and dialogue could use develop enemy as well. The time period of the story is unclear but I am guessing that it takes place around the 15th century shortly after z1492. The authoress mentions that many of these Jews came from Spain and Turkey. Reality is that Yemenite Jews were there even before the Muslims and Inam not so sure the Turkish and Spanish made their way to Yemen in an meaningful number. It is clear this author has knowledge of herbs but what is presented in the book seems like modern knowledge rather then what they would have used back then

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