Freshta (Paperback)

Welcome to Kabul: one family, countless secrets. When Herra, a Russian-Tadjik woman, falls in love with Nadir, an Afghan, she has no idea about the life that awaits her in post-Taliban Afghanistan, nor about the family she is about to join. A grandfather who is a feminist, an adopted young boy who astounds with his intellect, and Freshta, who will do anything to run away from her abusive husband. Like the other women in the family, Herra wears a burqa and hides in a closet when guests arrive. But when she starts a new job with an American woman, Heidi, she soon realizes how little understanding Westnerners have of the way women live in Afghanistan, and still less that not everybody is waiting to be saved. Freshta is a stunning debut about conceptions of human faith in a war-stricken country. It is a deeply moving story that will make you laugh and cry at the same time, a universal tale of husbands and wives, lovers and friends, who seek happiness and acceptance against the backdrop of the unexpected events playing around them.