Jamila set out her textbooks. She was a vigorous, square-jawed woman, who looked strong; her long hair had a rippling wave, and a coarse black sheen. Her face, unveiled, was very white, unnaturally so, slightly pitted from recently cleared acne; I thought of women in Europe, not too long ago, whitening and poisoning their skins with lead.

Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self-…, loc. 81