Sometimes Ivory, Sometimes Sand

Mahek Jangda

‘We stood up for ourselves, Laila, when no one would... That’s a victory.’ Laila Jagir, the daughter of the powerful councilman of the district of Rahat, has a flair for politics and has been raised with bold freedom. As she grows into a woman, she is unwilling to settle into a life of constraints. In the faraway district of Mahlah, Jasmine Mir’s world has been shaped by her father’s disappearance. Brought up by her conservative mother, she only knows how to suppress her own voice, not raise it. But when Jasmine leaves home to find her father and Laila gets married in a political trade-off, their fortunes reverse overnight and the two girls are brought together by fate. After a momentous bill allowing women to be elected into the national council is proposed, Laila is convinced that life for her fellow countrywomen will change for the better only if their true representative takes office. And so begins the campaign of a lifetime, as Laila and Jasmine immerse themselves in a movement like none before to change the course of history. But they soon discover that politics is a dangerous game and that those in power will do anything to hold on to it. A captivating story of two young women on a journey of self-discovery, Sometimes Ivory, Sometimes Sand explores what it means to be brave when you stand to lose everything you hold dear for the sake of the greater good.