Thousands of prices just dropped across Thryft
Our price drop is now live! Find lowered prices on thousands of one-of-a-kind finds across Thryft
Free delivery on all orders above $30
Get 10% off all year round! Join Thryft Club
Get 10% off all year round and $10 off your next order! Join Thryft Club
Buy 3 Get Another Free On All Under S$10

Your cart

Your cart is empty

Check out these collections!

Bestselling Fiction
Bestselling Nonfiction
Bestselling Books for Children
Vintage and Rare Books
Vinyl Records
Women's Clothing
Men's Clothing

Find more of what you love

Get thoughtful picks from Thryft’s ever-changing collection of pre-loved books, vinyl and CDs—plus occasional sales and events.

By signing up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Thryft. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sale

The Dancing Girls of Lahore: Selling Love and Saving Dreams in Pakistan's Pleasure District

by Louise Brown
$11.90 Now $9.90 Save 17%
The Dancing Girls of Lahore: Selling Love and Saving Dreams in Pakistan's Pleasure District
The Dancing Girls of Lahore: Selling Love and Saving Dreams in Pakistan's Pleasure District

Intimate, haunting portrait of inherited survival

This is the kind of nonfiction that reads with the emotional pull of a novel, drawing you deep into a hidden world most people never truly see. Louise Brown writes with remarkable restraint and compassion, which makes Maha and her daughters feel heartbreakingly real rather than sensationalized. If you’re drawn to stories about women, survival, and the weight of tradition, this one lingers long after the final page.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
Sale

The Dancing Girls of Lahore: Selling Love and Saving Dreams in Pakistan's Pleasure District

by Louise Brown
$11.90 Now $9.90 Save 17%
Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

Books in Like New Condition

This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Very Good Condition

This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Good Condition

We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Well Read Condition

This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

 

Find out more about our process here.

Special Offer

Buy 3, Get 1 Free On All Items Under S$10

Add 4 items under S$10 to your cart and the cheapest one is on us.

ISBN: 9780060740436
Authors: Louise Brown
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date of Publication: 2006-07-03
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: History, Sociology, Religion
Related Topics: History, Poverty, Social Issues, Anthropology, Asia, Womens, Gender
Goodreads rating: 3.85
(rated by 1712 readers)

Description

With beautiful understatement, Louise Brown turns a novelist's eye on a true story that beggars the imagination—the lives of the 'dancing girls' of Lahore, Pakistan. The dancing girls of Lahore inhabit the Diamond Market in the shadow of a great mosque. The twenty-first century goes on outside the walls of this ancient quarter but scarcely registers within. Though their trade can be described with accuracy as prostitution, the dancing girls have an illustrious history: beloved by emperors and nawabs, their sophisticated art encompassed the best of Mughal culture. The modern-day Bollywood aesthetic, with its love of gaudy spectacle, music, and dance, is their distant legacy. But the life of the pampered courtesan is not the one now being lived by Maha and her three girls. What they do is forbidden by Islam, though tolerated; but they are gandi, 'unclean,' and Maha's daughters, like her, are born into the business and will not leave it. Sociologist Louise Brown spent four years in the most intimate study of the family life of a Lahori dancing girl. Maha, a classically trained dancer of exquisite grace, had her virginity sold to a powerful Arab sheikh at the age of twelve; when her own daughter Nena comes of age and Maha cannot bring in the money she once did, she faces a terrible decision as the agents of the sheikh come calling once more.
 

Intimate, haunting portrait of inherited survival

This is the kind of nonfiction that reads with the emotional pull of a novel, drawing you deep into a hidden world most people never truly see. Louise Brown writes with remarkable restraint and compassion, which makes Maha and her daughters feel heartbreakingly real rather than sensationalized. If you’re drawn to stories about women, survival, and the weight of tradition, this one lingers long after the final page.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

History Books

Shop all
How Generation Z Galvanized a Revolutionary Movement Against Myanmar's 2021 Military Coup
Tharaphi Than, Sue Ye Lin, Ingrid Jordt | Iseas - Yusof Ishak Institute

How Generation Z Galvanized a Revolutionary Movement Against Myanmar's 2021 Military Coup

In one line

Gen Z transforms resistance through radical inclusion

Goodreads 0.0

Condition: Like New

$13.90

The Hobbit Trilogy Location Guide
Ian Brodie | Harper Collins

The Hobbit Trilogy Location Guide

In one line

Middle-earth travel dreams brought vividly to life

Goodreads 4.04

Condition: Very Good

$11.90

76% off est. retail
From Pakatan Harapan to Perikatan Nasional: A Missed Opportunity for Reforms for East Malaysia?
Anantha Raman Govindasamy | Iseas - Yusof Ishak Institute

From Pakatan Harapan to Perikatan Nasional: A Missed Opportunity for Reforms for East Malaysia?

In one line

Malaysia’s unfinished federal promise, viewed from Borneo

Goodreads 0.0

Condition: Very Good

$11.90

Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine
Nicola Twilley, Geoff Manaugh | Picador

Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine

In one line

Delve into quarantine's past, implications, and future.

Goodreads 3.94

Condition: Very Good

$8.90 $4.90 45% off

69% off est. retail
The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind the WikiLeaks Whistleblower
Chase Madar | Verso

The Passion of Bradley Manning: The Story Behind the WikiLeaks Whistleblower

In one line

Whistleblower's dilemma: secrecy versus transparency.

Goodreads 4.1

Condition: Very Good

$11.90 $8.90 25% off

My Life in Red and White
Arsène Wenger | W&n

My Life in Red and White

In one line

Football genius, leadership lessons, Arsenal history firsthand

Goodreads 3.66

Condition: Like New

$13.90

What’s Happened to Politics?
Bob Rae | Simon & Schuster

What’s Happened to Politics?

In one line

A sharp guide for disillusioned Canadian voters

Goodreads 3.64

Condition: Very Good

$11.90 $8.90 25% off

64% off est. retail
Station to Station
Steven Parissien | Phaidon Press

Station to Station

In one line

Journey through history via railway station architecture.

Goodreads 4.4

Condition: Like New

$17.90 $12.90 28% off

The Assassination Complex
Jeremy Scahill, The Staff of The Intercept | Simon & Schuster

The Assassination Complex

In one line

Exposing America's covert drone warfare intricacies.

Goodreads 3.9

Condition: Well Read

$12.90 $8.90 31% off

Shrinking the World - The 4000-Year Story of How Email Came to Rule Our Lives
John Freeman | Text Publishing

Shrinking the World - The 4000-Year Story of How Email Came to Rule Our Lives

In one line

A lively prehistory of your crowded inbox

Goodreads 3.49

Condition: Well Read

$8.90

History Books

Shop all

Sociology Books

Shop all
Sons of the Yellow Emperor
Lynn Pan | Harvill Secker

Sons of the Yellow Emperor

In one line

A sweeping human history of the Chinese diaspora

Goodreads 3.98

Condition: Well Read

$9.90

Notes on Love: Being Single and Dating in a Marriage-Obsessed Church
Lauren Windle | Spck

Notes on Love: Being Single and Dating in a Marriage-Obsessed Church

In one line

Witty solace for Christian singles navigating dating

Goodreads 4.34

Condition: Very Good

$11.90 $8.90 25% off

Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life
Gail Sheehy | Bantam

Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life

In one line

Navigating life's transitions with insightful guidance.

Goodreads 3.88

Condition: Well Read

$18.90 $7.90 58% off

United in Flow: The Art of Living in Joy
feisal alibhai | 9789887946007

United in Flow: The Art of Living in Joy

In one line

Finding joy where personal growth meets togetherness

Goodreads 4.0

Condition: Like New

$13.90

How Generation Z Galvanized a Revolutionary Movement Against Myanmar's 2021 Military Coup
Tharaphi Than, Sue Ye Lin, Ingrid Jordt | Iseas - Yusof Ishak Institute

How Generation Z Galvanized a Revolutionary Movement Against Myanmar's 2021 Military Coup

In one line

Gen Z transforms resistance through radical inclusion

Goodreads 0.0

Condition: Like New

$13.90

Chasing Rainbows
Choo Lian Liang | Straits Times Press

Chasing Rainbows

In one line

Four generations chasing home across turbulent Asian history

Goodreads 4.25

Condition: Like New

$13.90

Centre-Periphery Relations in Myanmar: Leverage and Solidarity After the 1 February Coup
Shona Loong | Iseas - Yusof Ishak Institute

Centre-Periphery Relations in Myanmar: Leverage and Solidarity After the 1 February Coup

In one line

Myanmar’s coup viewed through its neglected ethnic frontiers

Goodreads 0.0

Condition: Like New

$13.90

Public Trust in Singapore
CHAN DAVID | World Scientific Pub Co Inc

Public Trust in Singapore

In one line

How trust quietly holds Singapore together

Goodreads 4.33

Condition: Like New

$13.90

Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future
Paul Mason | Penguin Books Ltd

Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future

In one line

Envisions transformative future beyond current capitalism.

Goodreads 3.75

Condition: Well Read

$9.90 $6.90 30% off

72% off est. retail
Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life
Dacher Keltner | W. W. Norton & Company

Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

In one line

Compassion science for living a richer life

Goodreads 3.58

Condition: Like New

$13.90

Sociology Books

Shop all

You might enjoy this if…

View book details