Compelling and bold, Farzana Doctor's latest novel is an urgent exploration of women's agency in religion and tradition. Seven is fully feminist and ambitiously bold; this is an important book for our changing times.

When Sharifa accompanies her husband on a marriage-saving trip to India in 2016, she thinks that she’s going to research her great-great-grandfather, a wealthy business leader and philanthropist. What captures her imagination is not his rags-to-riches story, but the mystery of his four wives, missing from the family lore. She ends up excavating much more than she had imagined.

Sharifa’s trip coincides with a time of unrest within her insular and conservative religious community, and there is no escaping its politics. A group of feminists is speaking out against khatna, an age-old ritual they insist is female genital cutting. Sharifa’s two favourite cousins are on opposite sides of the debate and she seeks a middle ground. As the issue heats up, Sharifa discovers an unexpected truth and is forced to take a position.

Available in North America in paper, e-book and audiobook at all fine retailers.

Canada book launch September 17, 2020

US book launch October 1, 2020

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