Shabanu , her first novel, was born out of her own surprise at the life she found while working in Pakistan. I try to remember about how I thought of Pakistan before I went there. It's an artifical country made when the British were cutting India free and you don't expect it to have such a rich culture. So I was amazed at seeing such multifaceted richness. I spoke to an archelogist who told me that they can't begin to conserve or even identify all the wealth of the country.
Babies wear ancient Greek coins, punched a hole and tied around their necks as good luck charms.
For Staples the most prescious treasures in Pakistan were the stories of people she met, particularly the women. Her wealth of understanding about Pakistani women began while she worked for the Agency for International Development studying how the cycle of poverty in Pakistan could be interrupted with a focus on women. In the Cholistan desert, she met an eleven year old girl, orphaned, intelligent, independent, and confident. That child became the inspiration for Shabanu, heroine of both Staples' novels. Shabanu grows up on the desert with camel-raising parents who allow her more freedom than many girls.