THE TRUTH ABOUT PEACOCK BLUE

A powerful story about one girl’s fight for justice in Pakistan.

Aster is a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl living in a Pakistani village close to a major town. She has had a happy childhood attending the village school and playing cricket with friends and cousins. She and her family are Christian, in a predominantly Muslim country. When Aster’s brother becomes ill and dies, this single event changes her life in far reaching ways. Aside from her grief and becoming an only child, her parents have decided that she must be the hope of the family. They send her to the Girls Government School in the town so she can gain a good education to help support the family. As a Christian in a Muslim school, she is teased by some of the girls, and she finds the Arabic studies very difficult. One day she is accused of intentionally making a spelling mistake to insult the holy prophet. Her teacher is incensed and accuses her of blasphemy. A crowd forms and Aster is taken to jail for her own safety, to be tried for blasphemy at a later date. A young social justice lawyer takes up her case, and Aster’s Australian cousin, Maryam, starts an online campaign to free Aster. But will it be enough? Will Aster ever be free again? Aster’s story is loosely based on the true story of Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five who is currently on death row for blasphemy. The author says, “After reading Asia’s story, I was inspired to write a story about a young girl who ends up jailed for blasphemy in Pakistan, so that younger readers can read about this incredible injustice and realise that by the luck of their birth in a safe and democratic country like Australia, they are protected from the struggles that other children their age face every day.” Rosanne Hawke lives in rural South Australia. Many of her 20 books have been shortlisted or notable in Australian awards, and Taj and the Great Camel Trek was the winner of a 2012 Adelaide Festival award. For ten years Rosanne was an aid worker and teacher in the Middle East. She enjoys writing adventures and mysteries about history, culture, relationships, music and cats. She lectures in Creative Writing at Tabor University in Adelaide. www.rosannehawke.com