What a Shame: 'Intelligent, moving and darkly comic' The Sunday Times

Product Information

Fizzes with energy, rage and love, burrowing deep into those experiences that define us at our core’ Jasvinder grew up in Derby in a traditional Sikh family with several of her siblings. But it was her brother who always scored special treatment from her parents. Living in a guarded community, Jas wasn't even allowed to cut her hair or put on makeup for it was considered too frivolous. Girls were liabilities, someone who were arranged to be married off at just 15. After witnessing abusive marriages around her including that of her sisters', Jas decides to run away when she's presented with a man much older than her who was to be her husband. Her parents'expected rejection of her Punjabi boyfriend because he belonged to a lower status was the final push that freed Jas. The two struggle to survive outside the community and for many years, she is cut off from the family. I fell hard for Mathilda and her tale of heartache, grief and acceptance. Like most of us, she's a bit weird and a bit wild, and you'll be so glad you met her. -- Laura Pearson

Intelligent, moving and darkly comic . . . taking us deftly from serious explorations of trauma and consent to riotously funny scenes of modern life’ Westermann S, Rief W, Euteneuer F, Kohlman S. Social exclusion and shame in obesity. Eat Behav. 2015;17:74-6. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.01.001 I always love a book that focuses on the importance of female friendships, because aren’t they just the best? There really is something so beautiful about the sisterhood us women feel. Would 100% recommend this book (to the right person, maybe not your aunt), can’t wait to read Abigail’s next masterpiece! Dark, complex and very funny. A dazzling debut about the power of self-belief, sisterhood and letting go -- Hannah Tovey i have nothing much to say of this book apart from it was just okay. i believe this is bergstrom’s debut so it is completely understandable. it’s a normal reaction to me almost.Cibich M, Woodyatt L, Wenzel M. Moving beyond "shame is bad": How a functional emotion can become problematic. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2016;10(9):471-483. doi:10.1111/spc3.12263

An intelligent, moving and darkly comic debut, taking us deftly from serious explorations of trauma and consent to riotously funny scenes of modern life - it's like Fleabag with a sprinkling of the occult. * The Sunday Times * Dark, nuanced and provocative, this is a sterling debut that fans of Caroline O'Donoghue, Holly Bourne and Emma Jane Unsworth are sure to love. Mathilda's chilling - but ultimately redemptive - story will stay with me. -- Laura Jane Williams

Ironically, the habits we follow to reduce our shame, are induced by shame in the first place. The author, John Bradshaw, drank heavily to get away from his shame, yet the more he drank, the closer to shame he felt. Despite the burden they both carry; they are survivors in their own right. Shino has had to endure the shame associated with her family's low status. Together, they share a resolute determination to find happiness and solace, which paves the way for a new life as they unite. She’s cried all her tears, mastered her crow pose and thrown out every last reminder of him. But that’s not helping. Jasvinder Sanghera is the founder of the UK charity Karma Nirvana, those goal is to help women (mainly) from ethnic minorities and victims of forced marriages. Working with the police and social services, raising awareness in schools, giving interviews and lectures... She has a vast knowledge of the issue, but not only; she, above all, also experienced it first-hand herself, as she is recounting here in her autobiography.