The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

Rukhsana Ali keeps secrets. She has to. She loves her parents more than anything, but they love a person she isn’t: someone she has to pretend to be. If her parents learn she is gay, Rukhsana knows it won’t just disappoint them. It may destroy them.

Her friends mean well, but they don’t understand the pressures she is under as a Bengali lesbian living in the USA. When her parents do find out the truth, Rukhsana finds herself in greater and more horrifying danger than she could ever have expected...

Many books are now available for teenagers that centre the LGBTQ+ experience. This is the first of those books that explores the experience of people from an immigrant, Asian and Muslim background. This is a book that so very many readers have been waiting for. It accurately reflects life for many, many Asian girls and of any gender and every social class. It is simply an essential addition to any library for teenagers of any background.