"Couldn't put it down."
“Life after Ali took me on a beautiful, heart-breaking, but hopeful journey into the world of life-changing loss.”
– Johanna K.
*Also available as an eBook at leading booksellers.
"Couldn't put it down."
Life after Ali took me on a beautiful, heartbreaking, but hopeful journey into the world of life-changing loss.”
– Johanna K.
What happens when you lose your husband and social standing in a single moment?
An unexpected phone call shatters Indian immigrant Tasneem Zain’s idyllic family life in Sydney. Her husband has been in a terrible accident. Doctors aren’t sure if he’ll make it.
When Ali dies, Tasneem’s social status changes overnight.
People in her community believe that widows are bad luck.
They must be shunned and banned from any joyous occasions to avoid their ‘bad luck’ affecting others. Tasneem is also expected to fade away into the background, and become half the woman she is.
As a widow, she must observe iddah, a compulsory mourning period for Muslim women. Isolated in a room in her home, Tasneem experiences what it means to be an outsider. Shut away from the outside world, Tasneem prays for her late husband’s soul while struggling with grief and loneliness. As her iddah progresses, she starts searching for a new identity. Who is she and what does she really want?
She also resigns herself to spending the rest of her life alone knowing that’s what’s expected. But life has something unexpected in store.
I'm Rashida.
Proudly Kenyan-Indian-Australian. Copywriter by day / Author by night. Hoping to reverse this someday…
Reading and writing has always lit my soul up. In school, when I figured out that letters formed sentences, sentences formed stories, I was hooked.
But life had other plans. So I pushed the writing dream to the far recesses of my mind.
Despite wanting to study journalism (writing wasn’t considered a good career choice), I ended up studying Marketing and Management at university. I’m the first female in my family to graduate from a university, and the first person to migrate to Australia (which was and still is a HUGE deal).
After graduation, I settled down in Perth, Western Australia, entered the corporate world and immediately felt like a fish out of water. I hated the work, clocking in and out everyday, and felt completely disengaged and uninspired.
While on maternity leave, I had space to think about what I really wanted to do. Going back to the office was unappealing.
The dream that had been simmering inside of me for years ignited.
I found the Australian Writers Centre and began pitching ideas to editors. It transformed into a part-time copywriting business and I was thrilled!
In 2018, I set myself the audacious goal to publish my first novel before I turned the big 4-0 in 2023. I self-published my first novel, Life after Ali in 2021.
With more stories yet to be written and more dreams to fulfil, I’m looking forward to having your company as I travel my path.
