Written sometimes more like fiction than fact ... this is a remarkable portrait, with deftly woven accounts of weddings and journeys, books and bookselling, relations and squabbles, firmly anchored by pleasing details about food and customs, all set against the backdrop of a derelict city, filthy and crammed but not defeated" Independent "Remarkable . honestly and intelligently written" Isabel Hilton, Daily Telegraph " Fascinating ... a colourful portrait of people struggling to survive in the most brutal circumstances ... bear[s] witness to the power of literature to withstand even the most repressive regime" Michael Arditti, Daily Mail "An intimate portrait of Afghani people quite unlike any other book available on the country. It is a compelling read" Sunday Times "A unique insight into another world as the Norwegian answer to Kate Adie shares the life of a family in Kabul" Daily Mirror "A compelling picture of a country" Sunday Telegraph "...she wrote about this family simply because it interested her. This interest leaps from the pages. Seierstad's great strength lies in bringing all the characters to life with wonderful dialogue ... reads much like a novel ... there are vivid descriptio 'Seierstad's compelling family portrait is the heart of the book. Full of gossipy, jokey, intimate moments, sniffing the dust beneath the carpets, it shines it own fascinated gaze on rites of courtship and strictures of duty, kinship and protocol ... but
Read less