Swallows of Kabul Book

Moshen and his wife Zunaira met at the university and once looked forward to a happy and prosperous life together. But Moshem's dream of becoming a diplomat halted by the war with Russia dies with the ascendancy of the Taliban. Zunaira formerly a lawyer who worked for women's rights can no longer even appear on the streets of Kabul without a veil over her face. It is only in their own home that they can be themselves. One day unable to resist Moshen's pleas Zunaira dons her burqa and goes to market with him. The outing turns into a nightmare. Atiq a veteran of the Russian war is now a part-time jailer who watches over those condemned to death. The darkness of the prison and the wretchedness of his job have seeped into his soul. His home offers little respite from his rage and misery; his wife Musarrat is suffering from an illness no doctor can cure and even the most furvent prayers cannot alleviate. As Atiq begins to lose all faith in his own ability to survive the arbitary demands and extreme cruelties of the Taliban he is drawn to Zanaira now in prison awaiting public execution.In a final act of defiance Musarrat conceives a plan that will allow her husband to live and hope again... Already a best seller in France "The Swallows of Kabul" brilliantly exposes the differences between religiosity and dangerous religious extremism. Written in spare exquisite prose it is an unforgettable portrait of life under a fascist theocracy.

The Swallows Of Kabul : Paperback : Vintage Publishing : 9780099466024 : : 05 May 2005 : The Swallows of Kabul is an astounding and elegiac novel of four people struggling to hold on to their humanity in a place where pleasure is a deadly sin and death has become routine.