Ashes to Diamonds - Vera E. Okpere

He who has a "Why" to live for, can bear almost any "How" - Friedrich Nietzsche

Beautiful young Amina, in a town where girls were meant to be married at age 16, refused to conform to the culture and continued her education following her dream of building a career.

All changes when a death warrant was issued by Abdullah- The leader of the "Community of the Faithfull" but his plan was foiled by his wife Safiya, Amina's childhood friend who found out about the ploy and alerted Amina in time.

Amina ran for her life leaving her town which she loved, her best friend and her family to New York.

Life in New York was not as she had fantasied, she had read a lot about America but the reality was nothing like the stories in the books.

She had the freedom she had always dreamt about but at a cost. To survive, she goes against almost everything she believed in.

Ashes to Diamonds tells a story of threat, love, crime, friendship and determination to succeed against all odds set against the background of a young woman from a little small Muslim town in Pakistan where girls are bound by traditions, religion and culture to the big Cities of the USA.