Once the Taliban came anyone who had served in the overthrown government was a prime Taliban target. Kamila's father though retired, was one such target.
Also anyone who was of age to join the Taliban was forced to join. Kamila's older brother was this age and did not want to join the Taliban.
So Kamila's parents and her older brother fled Khair Khana. At the age of 16, Kamila became the sole provider for her younger brother and younger sisters in a town ruled by the Taliban where women were not allowed to hold jobs or leave their homes without the full chadri and a male escort.
The author of this book is a journalist and she spent quite a bit of the book speaking about the actual politics of Afghanistan which was boring to me.The names of the regimes before the Taliban, and the ones before that and the people in the posts didn't really matter to me. I just wanted to read about Kamila and her family. Eventually you do get to read about Kamila and her amazing story, (did I forget to tell you this is a true story?) but you have to wade through a lot of politics first.
One of things I thought was interesting about this book was that I learned more about how the Taliban treated women than I ever did through the news media. So I have to give the author credit for bringing that to light for me.
Despite the politics, I did enjoy the book and was thoroughly impressed with Kamila. I don't know if I would have been able to become the truly amazing woman she did in the circumstances she was faced with.
Rating: 7 / 10
ISBN: 9780061732379
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year Published: 2011