As a father of three daughters, I am appalled by how women’s rights are trampled upon in many parts of the world and how we seem to be going backwards, and perhaps nowhere more so than in Afghanistan, the location for this novel.
The story is set against that country’s modern history from the 1960s to 2007. The author was made famous by ’The Kite Runner’, and is a wonderful writer. The story is gripping but oh so sad and harrowing. Although it ends on a hopeful note, the return of the Taliban since it was written will have crushed that hope.
The book also illustrates how the West seems to have made things worse. When a communist regime takes over, arms are supplied by the West to the Mujahideen to fight the regime even though the new regime was good for women. As the father of one of the protagonists says, “Now is a good time to be a woman in Afghanistan.” The communists enact equal rights for women, introduce universal education for them, and greatly increase their literacy rates.
When the communist regime collapses, the Afghans turn on each other in a vicious civil war using the weapons the West supplied and the Russians left behind. As the author notes, "an Afghan’s worst enemy is himself”. That civil war leads to the Taliban taking power, and ultimately 9/11 and the huge loss of life and huge cost of dislodging ( for a while) the Taliban from power. Their oppression of women knew ( and today again, knows) no bounds.
The protagonists discover when they need medical help, all hospitals are now just for men, and the only one for women has no medical supplies. Women can’t leave the house without a man, and in legal cases while a man needs only one witness a woman must produce two, which in the case of widespread domestic violence is nigh impossible.
And now the West has left, Afghanistan has reverted to the Middle Ages. Women, who had a taste of freedom, are once again trapped in their homes, unable to work even if there is no male breadwinner, and suffocated by their burquas whenever they go out.
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this book is absolutely a 10/10 in my records. It was the most painfully beautiful read i had ever read in ages.I added a picture of the synopsis, so there’s no need for me to explain what the book is about, but there are some trigger warnings i advise looking into before reading it!!This book also educated me a lot on the Taliban situation in Afghanistan in a way that wasn’t forceful but very intriguing, which goes very under appreciated.This book is filled with constant plot twists and turns left right centre which is why i 100% recommend it!! it’s a read that you’ll never forget.
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