A review by margaret21
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

4.0

This book is about five very different characters who come together in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks. There's Marcus, an English doctor who married an Afghani, converting to become a Muslim to do so. She is now dead, killed by the regime. There's Lara, a Russian, trying to discover the fate of her brother. There's Casa, a zealous Muslim jihadist. There's David, an American ex-CIA agent is looking for his son - once he was in love with Marcus' daughter. And there's James, US Special Forces, working against terror in Afghanistan. This disparate band all find themselves living for a while in Marcus house, and we learn to have sympathy with each of them. We learn of the sights, sounds and smells of an Afghanistan which remains beautiful through all the privations and sufferings of war and a punishing regime.

This is a novel to experience rather than simply to read. Its style is poetic, and brings to life the day-to-day reality of harsh and often brutalised lives. I didn't quite believe in the situation which brought these five characters together, but it didn't matter. The story is powerful and affecting in any case.