Promising Azra

(Paperback)

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'Reading Promising Azra prompted me to revisit stories I have heard too many times to count. Forced marriage is not bound to a certain culture or religion, it's an epidemic affecting children from many backgrounds. For real change to be possible, it's important for us to hear these stories.' Dr Eman Sharobeem, Community Engagement Manager, SBS

Azra is sixteen, smart and knows how to get what she wants. She thinks. When she wins a place in a national science competition, she thinks her biggest problem is getting her parents' permission to go. But she doesn't know they're busy arranging her marriage to an older cousin she's never met. In Pakistan. In just three months' time.

Azra always thought she'd finish high school with her friends and then go on to study science, but now her dreams of university are suddenly overshadowed. Can she find a way to do what she wants, while keeping her parents happy

Or does being a good daughter mean sacrificing her freedom

Author Bio

Helen Thurloe is an award-winning Australian writer, with her poems and essays widely published.

Promising Azra is her first novel. To support its completion, the project was awarded a mentorship from the Children's Book Council of Australia (NSW), as well as two residential fellowships through the NSW Writers' Centre, and Varuna The National Writers House.

Her day jobs have included political staffer, public relations consultant, teacher of the Alexander Technique, and furniture sales and marketing. Helen has lived in both Brazil and Britain, but Sydney is now home.