Why a Booktrail?
Early 2000s: This is the book which will introduce you to the beauty and innocence of Afghanistan
Born Under a Million Shadows
What you need to know before your trail
The Taliban may have disappeared from Kabul’s streets, but it is clear that their brutal legacy has left its mark. Poverty is rife and families have been destroyed. Young Fawad has known more grief than most and he is still only 11: his father and brother have been killed, his sister has been abducted, and he and his mother Mariya, have been left to survive on a hand-to-mouth existence.
When Mariya finds a position as housekeeper for a wealthy western woman, Georgie, she hopes that a new life beckons, but the Georgie is involved in a dangerous love affair with the powerful Afghan warlord Haji Khan. What does this mean for them all and for young Fawad’s future?
Travel Guide
“My name is Fawad and my mother tells me I was born under the shadow of the Taliban.”
And so follows the story of Fawad and of Afghanistan for these are the two main characters we learn of as we wander the streets and observe life under the Taliban regime.
The day to day life of Afghans, their culture and their way of life is all evoked here.
It’s the detail which matter which help paint a true picture of life under such a regime. Not much mention of politics – that would be another view entirely but what matters here is the view of Afghanistan that Fawad sees through his young and innocent eyes. What he comes out with at times is both raw, innocent and often funny yet very revealing…
Fawad is a Muslim and his new employers Christian and this angle shows how acceptance in a country could do so much good and solve so many problems. The young boy’s innocence is charming as it is insightful –
“We don’t celebrate birthdays in Afghanistan; we only remember victories and death”
Of course, war and its horrific consequences on every level is the central theme and there are some truly difficult to read parts but others seen through a child’s eyes might just remind us how politics can be a case of the Emperor’s new clothes.
Talking of the Americans and Osama Bin Laden:
“The foreigners are here because they bombed our country to kill the Taliban and now they have to build it again.”
Then they came to Afghanistan to kill him, his wives, his children and all of his friends. “It’s called politics, Fawad”
Politics indeed but this novel shows that a country seen through the eyes of a little boy is anything but.
A glossary at the start of the book provides another look into the linguistic culture of the country and provids another level of understanding.
Where Next?
