‘The Girl with a Mirror’- women’s struggle
Understanding the struggles that women face at different stages of their lives has motivated a university lecturer to publish her first book.
Nushrat Azam, a lecturer in the School of Communications, Language & Literature at the Fiji National University in Suva, has published a semi-autobiographical fiction.
Titled ‘The Girl with a Mirror’, the book was especially dedicated to Ms Azam’s mother, who fought a brain stroke battle with a lot of strength, patience and tolerance beautifully.
Her late mother she says had inspired her to be a strong woman every day.
Ms Azam said she faced a struggle of handling and dealing with the situation by herself as her father and brother were out of the country at that time.
“The incident inspired me to reflect on life, past and present experiences and the lessons learned as a woman,” Ms Azam said.
“I was inspired to put down the thoughts and emotions into words and that’s how ‘The Girl with a Mirror’ happened.
“Regardless of the situation, social status or age group, a girl always has a mirror where my journey of reflection begins.
“The image a girl sets for herself in the mirror takes her in her inner and outer journey.
“The mirror reflects struggles, confusion, pain, doubts, happiness, satisfaction, dreams, desires of a girl along with the reflection of what society perceives of her.”
She said the book was a collection of six short stories, tales of every normal girl who saw herself and the world through her mirror.
“Each story depicts a young girl’s life or a woman’s struggle to find her
self by fighting the inner and outer demons. This book attempts to reach out to all the young girls and women out there who shine above and beyond the mirror.”
The book was published on June 18, 2021 by Pacific Studies Press. The cost of the book is $15.