Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl [Paperback]

Virginia Lee Barnes (Contributor), Janice Boddy (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 1995

This is the extraordinary first-person account of a young woman's coming of age in Somalia and her struggles against the obligations and strictures of family and society.  By the time she is nine, Aman has undergone a ritual circumcision ceremony; at eleven, her innocent romance with a white boy leads to a murder; at thirteen she is given away in an arranged marriage to a stranger.  Aman eventually runs away to Mogadishu, where her beauty and rebellious spirit leads her to the decadent demimonde of white colonialists.  Hers is a world in which women are both chattel and freewheeling entrepreneurs, subject to the caprices of male relatives, yet keenly aware of the loopholes that lead to freedom.  Aman is an astonishing history, opening a window onto traditional Somali life and the universal quest for female self-awareness.  

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA?In a frank, candid retelling of a difficult life, the authors present honest actions and reactions to customs and events in tribal Somalia beginning in the late '50s when Aman was the young daughter of a woman whose feminist sensibilities caused her to live apart from her husband and earn her own living, dangerous as that might be. Much of Aman's youth was driven by a need for money as well as a need to remain a virgin until married. Ceremonial genital surgery at age nine was performed to help preserve her virginity, but little could be done to prevent her from falling in love with a boy who was forbidden. Once she broke the taboo at 13, her reputation was soiled and her ability to make money affected. From that point to the end of this book, when she was about 19, she was on a rocky road through a disastrous marriage, poverty, war, great risks, and varying luck. Readers cannot help but be captivated by Aman's adolescent mistakes, as well as her indomitable spirit and everlasting optimism.?Ginny Ryder, Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Though it could have been sensationalized, this is in fact an intimate look at the girlhood of a 20th-century Somali. At eight, Aman was circumcised; at 13, she was married to an older man who attempted to deflower her with a knife. By 17 she had been raped, been divorced twice, borne two children, and lost one. Repeatedly, she ran from a culture that she both respected yet found too restrictive. To survive, she used men, marriage, and entrepreneurial skills, defining her motivation simply: "I wanted to get money so I could help my mama." Editors Barnes (deceased) and Boddy (cultural anthropology, Univ. of Toronto) present more than a tale of survival. Theirs is an honest, objective look at a society that, while often in today's headlines, is little understood outside of Africa. They also show Somalia's intricate patrilineal kinship and social structures. The excellent foreword and afterword by Boddy set Aman's story in Somalia's historical and contemporary social context. Recommended for anthropology, African studies, and women's studies collections.
Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (August 29, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679762094
• ISBN-13: 978-0679762096
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > History > Africa > Central Africa

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful, March 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl (Paperback)

A fascinating biography of a Somali woman. A must for anyone who is interested in women in Africa, for the story is not Aman's alone, but that of her grandmother, her mother, and her siblings.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The enlightening life experience of ONE Somali girl-child, October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl (Paperback)

I read this book because I am studying Psychology and it is the focus of a personality assessment piece I am to present. I found 'Aman' to be an easy read, but a pleasurable one. For those who choose to criticise her story, I would put to you that Aman did not presume to explain her story as that of EVERY Somali woman, but of her own life experience. Furthermore, I have been educated in the fact that not EVERY Somali woman is as dependent on her husband as I once presumed. I thank Aman for teaching ME a thing or two.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't miss it, March 6, 2003

By 

Mandy (new hampshire, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl (Paperback)

I began reading this book for a research project and became enraptured. It will transport you to the time and place Aman speaks of. Not only did i fall in love with her story and the charaters in the story, but two years later, many of the historical facts and truths of somalia have really stuck with me. Poignant and at times painful, this book is unforgatable and enlightening.