Title: The dancer from Khiva
First published: 2008
Description: An unflinchingly honest memoir, this true story offers remarkable insights into Central Asian culture through the harrowing experiences of a young girl. In a narrative that flows like a late-night confession, Bibish recounts her story. Born to an impoverished family in a deeply religious village in Uzbekistan, Bibish was named "Hadjarbibi" in honor of her grandfather's hadj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. But the holy name did not protect her from being gang-raped at the age of eight and left for dead in the desert. Bibish's tenacity helped her survive, but in the coming years, that same tough-spiritedness caused her to be beaten, victimized, and ostracized from her family and community. Despite the seeming hopelessness of being a woman in such a cruelly patriarchal society, Bibish secretly cultivated her own dreams - of dancing, of raising a family, and of telling her story to the world.
Subjects: Women refugees, Biography, Women, Dancers, biography, Muslim women, Khiva (uzbekistan), history, Women, crimes against
Places: Uzbekistan, Russia (Federation)
People: Bibish
LC classification: PG3491.46.I25 Z4613 2008