Scan barcode
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
A dramatic contrast between the life Enjeela had in Kabul and the months she spent escaping from Afghanistan during the war between the Russians and their allies, Afghani soldiers, and the mujahideen. It's more than a little self-congratulatory. What resonated with me were the descriptions of the lives of the poor rural Afghanis she met along the escape route.
sboedecker1024's review against another edition
4.0
I have this tendency of being half engaged in books I'm reading on my kindle, and I was guilty of topically reading this book for the first 1/4. Once I got into it though it was one you didn't want to put down. The story of Enjeela and her family and the obstacles they had to face to escape were eye-opening. I don't have deep thoughts because I didn't deep read, but I enjoyed the story which brought more light to this complex region of the world.
deecreatenola's review against another edition
4.0
This was not the best written book, but I had to bump it to 4 stars for the compelling story. A privileged child living in Kabul has to escape Afghanistan with siblings as the Russian army takes over. Heartbreaking but ultimately rewarding.
debyik's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is actually the first memoir I have read and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the writing style, it was easy to read and drew me in. It was interesting to learn more about the culture in Afghanistan and India and the hardships that so many people have to go through and overcome along with the inner strength that people are able to find within when they need it. I kept waiting for something devastating to happen, so it took me a little longer to read as I wanted everyone to be okay. I am so glad I read this book and look forward to reading more memoirs in the future.
terrimarshall's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book by a woman from Afghanistan who escaped with her family in the 80s when the Soviets tried to take over. People who want to bash immigrants who try to leave their country illegally should read books like this, because there was no way this family was leaving without somebody getting killed. They spent months trying to escape through the rural countryside. Her family was wealthy, and they fared better than most Afghans in that time period. She had some interesting observations on comparing her progressive upbringing in Kabul with how poor Afghans lived in the countryside and their oppression of women. She has an interesting story.
gooders's review against another edition
3.0
I finished this book on the plane when we were flying home from holiday, giving me lots of time to consider how I felt about it.
After I’d finished my previous book, and not being bothered to search for ages to find my next read, I found this one that I’d already downloaded on my Kindle.
Bit of a back story - one of my favourite books EVER is ‘Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody’, a true story about an American woman who went to Iran with her husband, and her subsequent effort to escape from the country back to America. Her main problem being that people would transport her, but refused to take her daughter with them. As this story is about a young girl’s escape from Afghanistan after the Russian invasion in the 1980s, I thought this was right up my street.
Life for Enjeela in Kabul is full of happiness and everything she could ever want. Her mother comes from an incredibly rich family, and her father has built his own business up from moderately wealthy to be exceptionally so. She wants for nothing and leads an incredibly privileged life.
That is until the Russian invasion. Then follows Enjeela’s story as her mother leaves to go to India for a heart operation and does not return, her father battles alcoholism and refuses leave his beloved Kabul, regardless of the dangers and Enjeela’s viewpoint from the pear tree in her garden that she sits in and watches the changes happening to her beloved city.
Eventually, her father realises the danger he is in (he works for the American Embassy and has Russians following him and threatening him) and arranges to send his children with a guide over the mountains to safety in Pakistan, before meeting them there and continuing their journey together to their mother.
This book had some amazing imagery…which I found difficult to believe that a 6 year old girl would recall, as well as some heartbreaking stories and lives of others - particularly when Enjeela’s eyes are opened as they travel through the mountains and meet the impoverished villagers who live there.
Overall, slightly disappointed with this story as I expected more. Sometimes, months, even years, went by in this book with nothing actually happening. They were just written off. And the ending disappointed me. I didn’t find out what happened to her mother and father, or their planned emigration to America, or any of the other members of her family.
Can’t say that I’d recommend this one above others I’ve read that are in a similar vein.
After I’d finished my previous book, and not being bothered to search for ages to find my next read, I found this one that I’d already downloaded on my Kindle.
Bit of a back story - one of my favourite books EVER is ‘Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody’, a true story about an American woman who went to Iran with her husband, and her subsequent effort to escape from the country back to America. Her main problem being that people would transport her, but refused to take her daughter with them. As this story is about a young girl’s escape from Afghanistan after the Russian invasion in the 1980s, I thought this was right up my street.
Life for Enjeela in Kabul is full of happiness and everything she could ever want. Her mother comes from an incredibly rich family, and her father has built his own business up from moderately wealthy to be exceptionally so. She wants for nothing and leads an incredibly privileged life.
That is until the Russian invasion. Then follows Enjeela’s story as her mother leaves to go to India for a heart operation and does not return, her father battles alcoholism and refuses leave his beloved Kabul, regardless of the dangers and Enjeela’s viewpoint from the pear tree in her garden that she sits in and watches the changes happening to her beloved city.
Eventually, her father realises the danger he is in (he works for the American Embassy and has Russians following him and threatening him) and arranges to send his children with a guide over the mountains to safety in Pakistan, before meeting them there and continuing their journey together to their mother.
This book had some amazing imagery…which I found difficult to believe that a 6 year old girl would recall, as well as some heartbreaking stories and lives of others - particularly when Enjeela’s eyes are opened as they travel through the mountains and meet the impoverished villagers who live there.
Overall, slightly disappointed with this story as I expected more. Sometimes, months, even years, went by in this book with nothing actually happening. They were just written off. And the ending disappointed me. I didn’t find out what happened to her mother and father, or their planned emigration to America, or any of the other members of her family.
Can’t say that I’d recommend this one above others I’ve read that are in a similar vein.
stacykins78's review against another edition
2.0
It was well-written until the end. It just stops very abruptly. It was as if she didn’t want to finish telling the story and just stopped. Weird.
jove64's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this memoir a child refugee and the way that the experience of family separation, the journey out of the country, and eventual reunification have shaped her. The detail of the journey is particularly well told. It might have been a more compact and interesting story had the author chosen to end it with the arrival in New Delhi. I can see why she extended the timeline but the last part of the book loses momentum quite badly and doesn't seem to have any real narrative drive apart from filling in the blanks to how she got to America. The main part of the book more than makes up for the disappointing last section though.
The book nicely interweaves the story of a girl growing up and learning about her place in the world beyond her family with the story of overcoming hardship and learning to live without the privileges to which she was accustomed.
The book nicely interweaves the story of a girl growing up and learning about her place in the world beyond her family with the story of overcoming hardship and learning to live without the privileges to which she was accustomed.
whoahknelly's review against another edition
2.0
It was hard to read this memoir of a very well funded and connected family fleeing Afghanistan during the Russians occupation at this particular point in time: September 2021. The circumstances that the Afghan people are in now are dire and heartbreaking...no comparison.