A poor, overweight orphan girl is forced into marriage with a homeless man; a few days later, he arrives in a Rolls-Royce.

Amara avoided mirrors. It wasn’t just her height that made her different, but the way people looked at her, as if she were a problem that had taken on a physical form. « Ah, Amara! » the women at the well would exclaim, « You’re turning into a real sack of rice! » Laughter always followed. She laughed too, because that was the rule: if you laugh at yourself, it hurts less when others do. But in truth, the pain never lessened. She carried water jugs heavier than herself, swept the compound before dawn, and washed clothes until her fingers were wrinkled, but her aunt’s favorite phrase remained the same: « You eat more than you work. »

Amara rarely defended herself. The few times she tried, her aunt raised an eyebrow contemptuously: « Oh, you have a mouth now? Perhaps you should use it to find food elsewhere. » So, she swallowed his words along with everything else. The suitors’ season was the most difficult time. Every time a man and his family came for one of her cousins, the house was transformed. Cracks were painted, curtains were changed, and the smell of fried chicken hung in the air. Amara was then given a loincloth and ordered to stay in the back room…