Confessions of a Gambler, by Rayda Jacobs

In this timely novel, Abeeda, a South African woman in her late forties, is struggling to hold on to both halves of a double life. To others, she is a pious Muslim mother of four, coping with the death of one of her sons to AIDS. But Abeeda has also developed a gambling addiction, winning and losing huge amounts of money. In a series of flashbacks her life is traced as a woman in her twenties, through a torrid affair with her younger sister's fiancé, Imran, and her history of taking wild risks. In all, this is a gripping story of family, addiction, religion, and redemption.