Nadia Hashimi joins Carol Fitzgerald to discuss her new novel, CITY OF WIDOWS, a Bookreporter Bets On selection set in Afghanistan, a place that she previously wrote about. While the book looks back in time, the arc of it moves towards the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, focusing on Afghan female soldiers, journalists, and the chaos of evacuation. Nadia talks about the shock of the total Taliban takeover — many had hoped for a power-sharing arrangement — and the rapid reversal of 20 years of progress for women.
Marjan, Nadia's protagonist, had been a soldier in an elite unit of women serving with the Afghan army working with the Americans. As the Taliban advance toward Kabul in the summer of 2021 following the U.S. withdrawal announcement, Marjan and her unit go from hunters to hunted, facing a ticking clock to escape or find safety. She is on the run with her daughter, Hawa, hoping to get on one of the last planes leaving Kabul for the U.S. Nadia talks about the City of Widows, a place in Afghanistan where widowed women built their own homes on a hill, away from the city, creating an independent community.
The Taliban's restrictions are deliberate and systematic, designed to suppress potential backlash by eliminating women's access to education, community and economic participation. Nadia notes that international outrage about what has happened in Afghanistan has faded, which she describes as "the heartbreaking part." The book grew from direct personal involvement in the evacuation crisis and a desire to highlight the hidden complexity and agency of Afghan women. CITY OF WIDOWS is a stand-alone novel but rewards readers of THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL with a deeper understanding of Marjan's origins and transformation.
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