There’s a small but vibrant cottage industry of Muslim women writing romance novels, littattafan soyayya, in Northern Nigeria, a region best known for the acts of terrorist group Boko Haram. The writers face off with Islamic censors, and they sell their books in markets that are often the same ones targeted by Boko Haram suicide bombers.

The books are about love and marriage. Sometimes subversive and sometimes submissive, the plot lines often feature a poor girl marrying a rich man, and other fantasies of a better life. Guided by the themes of the novels, Diagram of the Heart explores romance, tradition, love and loss in the lives of women in Northern Nigeria.