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author * Suzanne Fisher Staples
type of work * Novel
genre * Young adult novel, problem novel
language * English
time and place written * Mid-1980s;Washington, D.C.
date of first publication * 1989
publisher * Knopf
narrator * Shabanu
point of view * Shabanu, the protagonist, narrates the story. She objectively reports only what she observes, but she shares her insights, ideas, and inferences about events and characters.
tone * Shabanu speaks in a clear and simple voice. Her point of view reflects that she is a teenager, struggling to make sense out of the world around her and her changing role in it. She presents her story sequentially, filling in details of the past where needed.
tense * Shabanu speaks in the simple present, lapsing into the past only to explain events to the audience.
setting (time) * 1970s or 1980s
setting (place) * Cholistan Desert, in Pakistan, near the border with India
protagonist * Shabanu
major conflict * Shabanu struggles to reconcile herself with the marriage her parents have arranged for her.
rising action * In anticipation of Phulans wedding, the family travels to the town where the two brothers live. During the preparations, however, a greedy landowner, who has a great deal of power in the region, attempts to kidnap and rape Phulan. In the ensuing scuffle, Phulans fiancй is killed.
climax * Shabanus parents decide that Phulan will marry Shabanus fiancй. The landowners wealthy and respected older brother has fallen in love with Shabanu, and, in order to ensure peace between the families, Shabanus parents agree to let him marry her.
falling action * One night, Shabanu