Hideous Kinky

A young mother and her two daughters travel to Marrakesh, Morocco, during the 1960s. The mother is disenchanted by the dreary conventions of English life, hence the journey. They live in a low-rent Marrakesh hotel and make a living out of sewing dresses and receive money sent by the girls' father in London.

While the mother explores Sufism and quests for personal fulfilment, the daughters rebel. The elder, Bea, attempting to re-create her English life, wants to get an education and insists on going to school. The younger dreams of trivial things, like mashed potatoes, but also yearns for a father. Her hopes settle on a most unlikely candidate.

The girls' mother meets a series of men including Bilal, a Moroccan acrobat; he moves in, becoming almost a surrogate father. When he leaves town the mother travels to Algiers without Bea, to study with a Sufi master.

In 1998, a film adaptation was released.