Published by Random House, 2002, softcover, 311 pages, condition; as new.
Shirin-Gol was just a young girl when her village was leveled by the Russians' bombs in 1979. After the men in her family joined the resistance, she fled with the women and children to the capital, Kabul, and so began a life of day-to-day struggle in her war-torn country. A life that included a period living in the harsh conditions of a Pakistani refugee camp, being forced into a marriage to pay off her brother's gambling debts, selling her body and begging for the money to feed her growing family, an attempted suicide, and an unsuccessful endeavor to leave Afghanistan for Iran after the Taliban seized control of her country. Told truthfully and with unflinching detail to writer and documentary-maker Siba Shakib, and incorporating some of the shocking experiences of Shirin-Gol's friends and family members, this is the story of the fate of many of the women in Afghanistan. But it is also a story of great courage, the moving story of a proud woman, a woman who did not want to be banished to a life behind the walls of her house or told how to dress, who wanted an education for her children so that they could have a chance at a future without fear and poverty.
One womans harrowing story about life under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Shirin-Gol was just a young girl when her village was levelled by the Russians in 1979. When the men in her family joined the resistance, she fled with the other women and children to Kabul, and so began a life of day-to-day struggle in her war-torn country.
A life that included a Pakistani refugee camp, a forced marriage to pay off her brothers gambling debts, selling her body and begging for money to feed her growing family, an attempted suicide and an unsuccessful attempt to leave Afghanistan for Iran after the Taliban seized control of her country.
This is the story of the fate of many women in Afghanistan. But it is also a story of a courageous and proud woman who refused to be banished to a life behind the walls of her house, who wanted an education for her children so that they could have a chance to live their lives without fear and poverty.
Siba Shakib is an Iranian/German filmmaker, writer, political activist, and former advisor to UN mandated peace troops in Afghanistan. She is the author of Samira and Samir. Several of her documentaries have won awards, including a German Human Rights film prize on the 50th anniversary of the UN Human Rights declaration, for her film A Flower for the Women of Kabul. Born and raised in Tehran, she now lives in New York and Germany.
