Possessing the Secret of Joy

I was shocked when I read this book. I had previuosly read another book on female "circumcision", [b:Desert Flower|8745|Desert Flower|Waris Dirie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439762656l/8745._SY75_.jpg|2736618] by [a:Waris Dirie|5675|Waris Dirie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343010718p2/5675.jpg]. Desert Flower is non-fiction and should probably have made an even deeper impression on me. But Possessing the Secret of Joy, though fiction, was the one that truly unsettled me. When Waris Dirie was "circumcised" she was a little girl, she was forced and she didn't really know what was happening. Tashi however already has had sex, is living a life in America far away from her home country with a loving husband and still decides to undergo the procedure to honor her roots. She later has a baby who is retarded because of problems while giving birth caused by the narrow opening of her vagina. She then aborts another baby because she wouldn't be able to give birth in a natural way but also doesn't want a Cesarean as she is afraid to be cut open again. Tashi undergoes therapy but in the end kills the tsunga who circumcised her and is herself sentenced to death. The story is told from various perspectives and not is to follow in the beginning. It is truly captivating, though, and often hard to stomach. The book is a must-read. It gives so much insight into how the women in certain cultures are the ones continuing this Tradition, how they legimitate this ritual by religious beliefs and condemn others who didn't undergo the procedure.

This book tore me into shreds