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A review by kc_kinda_reads
Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son by Homeira Qaderi
5.0
"I'm as afraid of being killed as you are," I said. "But I'm even more afraid of getting buried alive for the rest of my life without realizing my dreams."
This book... these stories... these lives. Through my career I have done quite a bit of reading and learning about the lives of people in Afghanistan. Now, through my ignorance and through the resources previously provided, this is only the first time I've read a book from the POV of a woman in Afghanistan and I was stunned.
To see the treatment of a "loud" girl growing up in a community where women are meant to be unseen and unheard. The way her family treated and spoke to her for being who she wanted and doing what she wanted. How the personality of her home city, Herat, changed as the Russian military moved out and the Taliban slid into the position of control. The joy of young girls and boys, who have had joy repressed their entire lives, dancing and interacting freely inside of a makeshift mosque. The utter fear and horror of soldiers walking into your home and claiming you or your sister as theirs and "no" not being an option.
This book has moved me and shown me things that I have never, and will never, fully be able to understand. The pain of the lives of so many who have been raised in a country of never ending war.
"We were like mice, silent and nervous, hiding in the walls from a hungry cat that could pounce on us at any time.
This book... these stories... these lives. Through my career I have done quite a bit of reading and learning about the lives of people in Afghanistan. Now, through my ignorance and through the resources previously provided, this is only the first time I've read a book from the POV of a woman in Afghanistan and I was stunned.
To see the treatment of a "loud" girl growing up in a community where women are meant to be unseen and unheard. The way her family treated and spoke to her for being who she wanted and doing what she wanted. How the personality of her home city, Herat, changed as the Russian military moved out and the Taliban slid into the position of control. The joy of young girls and boys, who have had joy repressed their entire lives, dancing and interacting freely inside of a makeshift mosque. The utter fear and horror of soldiers walking into your home and claiming you or your sister as theirs and "no" not being an option.
This book has moved me and shown me things that I have never, and will never, fully be able to understand. The pain of the lives of so many who have been raised in a country of never ending war.
"We were like mice, silent and nervous, hiding in the walls from a hungry cat that could pounce on us at any time.