Shame Travels: A Family Lost, a Family Found is a deeply personal and courageous memoir by Jasvinder Sanghera, a prominent British activist and author known for her work on forced marriage and honor-based violence. In this powerful sequel to her earlier book Shame, Sanghera embarks on an emotional and complex journeyboth literal and internalas she travels to India to confront the heritage and cultural traditions that led to her estrangement from her family.
Sangheras story begins with her break from her family at the age of sixteen, when she refused to accept an arranged marriage. This decision cost her her parents, her siblings, and the wider community she grew up in. But years later, as an adult and a mother herself, she seeks to understand the roots of the shame culture that dictated so much of her early life. What drives families to choose tradition over their children? Can reconciliation ever be found between personal freedom and collective identity?
In Shame Travels, Sanghera journeys to the Punjab in search of answers, bringing with her the pain of exile but also a desire to heal. Her travel narrative is rich with sensory detailsthe colors, sounds, and customs of Indiabut also woven with the emotional complexity of visiting a homeland that feels both foreign and deeply familiar. Along the way, she reflects on the legacy of patriarchy, the generational impact of migration, and the ways in which culture can be both a source of strength and a tool of oppression.
What makes this memoir especially powerful is Sangheras unflinching honesty. She shares her vulnerabilities, doubts, and hopes with remarkable clarity, drawing the reader into the intimate and often heartbreaking process of rediscovering ones roots. Her story is not just about personal reconciliationits also about giving voice to countless others who suffer in silence under the weight of cultural shame and expectation.
Shame Travels is a compelling exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring power of love and forgiveness. It challenges readers to question inherited norms and to consider the courage it takes to stand alone for what is right. For anyone interested in the intersections of culture, gender, and personal liberation, Sangheras memoir is both enlightening and profoundly moving.
