Starting life as part of the BBC World Service transmission, Afghan Woman’s Hour, women were encouraged to tell their stories, it became one of the most widely listened to programmes in the country. Zarghuna Kargar interweaves her own story around these biographical fragments, tragic stories of women broken and downtrodden by such a deeply traditional and conservative culture where women have value only as bearers of sons. The situation has worsened due to the wars adding widowhood and disablement to women’s woes. There are chinks of light among the stories, a loving relationship, a woman finding a way of supporting her family, another able to choose the man she loves but one is left angered and saddened at the treatment meted out to the Afghan women and deeply grateful to Zarghuna Kargar for revealing the plight of these women.
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| Primary Genre | Non-Fiction Books of the Month |
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Dear Zari gives voice to the secret lives of women across Afghanistan and allows them to tell their stories in their own words: from the child bride given as payment to end a family feud; to a life spent in a dark, dusty room weaving carpets; to a young girl brought up as a boy; to life as a widow shunned by society. Compelling and enlightening, Dear Zari uncovers the reality of life in Afghanistan in stories that are by turn heart-breaking and uplifting.
Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from Women of Afghanistan features in the following genres: Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Biographies & Autobiographies, eBooks of the Month, Recommendations, Biography, Literature and Literary studies
Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from Women of Afghanistan is available in Paperback
Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from Women of Afghanistan was written by Zarghuna Kargar and published by Vintage
Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from Women of Afghanistan has 267 pages
£15.29