So begins "The Red Moon", a debut novel by Kuwana Haulsey about a young Somalian/Kenyan woman, Nasarian who, as the novel opens, helplessly and hopelessly watches as her mother's life force slowly drains away. Her mother was the fourth and last wife of her father, who has recently died, and thus, according to tradition, deserving of little or nothing. But Nasarian and her mother, Nima, found a special place in her father's heart, displacing his affection for his other wives and children. Nasarian knows that when her mother dies, her life will change forever.

Raised in a society in which women are treated as property, Nasarian has always felt like an outsider. As a "half-breed" and a young woman with a formal education, she has even more reason to feel distant from those around her. When she has a chance at a university education, Nasarian finds that it is not easy to escape her tribal ties and finally must choose between what she was and what she could be.