An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)

by Sabaa Tahir

I wonder if he has a sister, a wife, a woman. But it wouldn’t matter if he did. To him, I’m not someone’s family. I’m just a thing to be subdued, used, and discarded.

Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.

Mother. It’s not the right word. Mother evokes warmth and love and sweetness. Not abandonment in the Tribal desert hours after birth. Not years of silence and implacable hatred. She’s taught me many things, this woman who bore me. Control is one of them.