Khatijah Shafi was a bright, driven teenager whose only ambition was to keep studying - until at 17, her family sold her into a loveless, forced marriage to a man she'd met once. Somebody Else's Life, her raw debut memoir published through Vanguard Press, an imprint of Pegasus, tells what came after: escape, years spent hiding from the people meant to protect her and the hard-won rebuild of a life entirely her own.

What makes Khatijah's story different from most accounts of violence against women is what it isn't. This isn't about a relationship that turned dangerous over time - it's about a once-loving parent-child bond and the agonising pull between family loyalty and the right to choose your own future. There is rarely a warning sign and rarely an easy way out.

Khatijah went on to build a career across the IT industry living and working in the UK, Malaysia, Australia and Globally. In 2024 she self-published a poetry collection, Murmurs of the Soul, before writing Somebody Else's Life - her first nonfiction book. She now lives in Australia and is a candid, compelling voice on forced marriage, resilience and reclaiming a stolen life.