Why a Booktrail?
1952: The beautiful story of a poor young boy in Afghanistan who will do anything for his little sister.
And the Mountains Echoed
What you need to know before your trail
Abdullah’s father tells a story one day about a farmer Baba Ayub who is forced by a mythical creature, a div, who comes to steal one of his children.
Abdullah is only ten years old and his sister both love their father’s tales. His father is alone for his wife sadly died in childbirth. Pari, his younger sister is the only source of happiness in this little boy’s life and he will literally walk to the ends of the earth for her.
When his father has to walk many miles across the desert in search of work in Kabul, and will have to take Pari. Abdullah is determined that he will go too. This journey will change their lives.
Years later and the brother and sister’s lives have changed dramatically and their story becomes a multigenerational one about family love and
how a tale told by their father many years ago can reveal its secrets.
Locations
Reset- Afghanistan
- A: Helmand province
- B: Kabul
- C: Istalif
- France
- D: Paris
- America/USA
- E: CA - San Francisco
- Greece
- F: Tinos island
Travel Guide
“It happened one day that a div came to Maidan Sabz. As if approached the village from the direction of the mountains, the earth shook with each of its footfalls..”
And so begins the story of the creature which takes children from their families in the wastelands of Afghanistan. And so begins the story of Abdullah and his sisters Pari..
The innocence of children set against a backdrop of war creates a very poignant read and the effects of the war in Afghanistan is a powerful setting to explore the lives of people, the children, living through it.
The story spans generations and centres around young Adbullah and his sister Pari.Travelling across the desert in Afghanistan brings the heartache of what war has done, the need for a man to walk to Kabul in search for work with two young children in tow.
“Abdullah had never been to Kabul. What he knew had come from stories Uncle Nabi had told him.”
As they walk, they reach various towns and villages meeting a range of characters along the way. Locations range from small dusty villages to the large concrete cities – as the locales change and the journey progresses so too do we learn more of the changing political landscape. The war is the backdrop and there is danger in Helmand, and ‘the factories’ there.
“Just a few acres of orchards. Well and the cotton fields in Helmand too, I guess, for the factory”
From Kabul 1952, there is so much which follows. To see the country and its history through Pari and Abdullah’s eyes and a wealth of the other characters is a rare and poignant experience.
Where Next?
