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The nineteenth daughter of a local village leader in rural Afghanistan, the author was left to die in the sun after birth by her mother. But she survived, and perseverance in the face of extreme hardship has defined her life ever since. Despite the abuse of her family, the exploitative Russian and Taliban regimes, the murders of her father, brother, and husband, and numerous attempts on her life, she rose above her fate to becoming the first Afghani woman Parliament speaker. Here, she shares her amazing story, punctuated by a series of poignant letters she wrote to her two daughters before each political trip, letters describing the future and freedoms she dreamed of for them and for all the women of Afghanistan. Today, she is one of the most outspoken critics of human rights violations against Afghani women and children and uses her influence to bring global attention to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, even as a frustrated American military considers relinquishing it to the Taliban. Her story movingly captures the political and cultural moment in Afghanistan, a country caught between the hope of progress and the bitterness of history. -- Provided by publisher.… (more)
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Fawzia Koofi is the speaker of the Afghan Parliament. She is also an inspiration, not just to women, not just to the Afghan population, but to every human being. This book tells, in her own words, both her struggle to get to her lofty position and something of her belief structure. I will not lie, at times it is hard for me to go along with her views - when she was young, her father would beat her mum should the rice served to guests not be sufficiently fluffy. Fawzia is happy that this attitude is slowly changing but is able to differentiate between this and the cruel treatment handed out by the Taliban, during their reign. The Taliban enjoyed inflicting pain whilst her dad was simply trying to improve her mum. This is hard for a Westerner to comprehend.
The book is painfully sad, in parts: the pointless torture and slow death of her husband caused tears and anger in equal parts, at least in this reader. However, it is heartening to know that a lady can attain such status in Afghanistan - after all, we chaps still have more chance of power in the West than the ladies. If I were to criticise it in any way, my complaint would be that this tome is too short. I could have happily read 500, 750 or even 1,000 pages about this lady without a trace of boredom. I can only hope that this is the first of a series of books that Fawzia Koofi will find time to write.