From Publishers Weekly
Khadra is the nom de plume for Algerian army officer Mohamed Moulessehoul (In the Name of God; Wolf Dreams), who illustrates the effects of repression on a pair of Kabul couples in this slim, harrowing novel of life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Gloomy prison guard Atiq Shaukat is tired of his grim duties, keeping watch over prisoners slated for public execution. Life at home, where his wife, Musarrat, is slowly dying of a chronic illness, is no better. Mohsen Ramat, meanwhile, clings to the remains of his middle-class life together with his beautiful, progressive wife, Zunaira, after the Taliban strip them of their livelihood and dignity. Khadra's storytelling style recalls that of Naguib Mahfouz in the early chapters, in which the tense dissatisfaction of both couples is revealed. The pivotal event occurs when Ramat discharges his frustrations by participating in the brutal stoning of a female Taliban prisoner. The incident changes the dynamic of his marriage; after an extended argument about the incident, Ramat persuades Zunaira to go for a stroll in downtown Kabul and the couple is harassed and nearly brutalized by Taliban soldiers. Zunaira continues to bridle at her situation, and when their next argument turns physical, Ramat falls and dies after hitting his head on the wall. Shaukat is given the assignment of guarding Zunaira after she is arrested and charged with murder, and his instant infatuation with her sets off a remarkable chain of events. Khadra's simple, elegant prose, finely drawn characters and chilling insights ("Kabul has become the antechamber to the great beyond") prepare the way for the terrible climax. Like Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, this is a superb meditation on the fate of the Afghan people.
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* In Kabul under the Taliban, two men walk the city in pain. Atiq, 42, is a part-time jailer; so efficient is the regime's capital punishment machinery that there are never many prisoners in his jail. Atiq's wife is dying of a painful, wasting disease, and he feels these days, after 20 years of unremitting war, that "he can't see the end of the tunnel, and he can't see the end of his nose, either." Mohsen, about 10 years younger, has watched his family's fortunes collapse as successive regimes destroyed business, devalued education, and finally forbade women like his beautiful wife to practice their professions. Indeed, Zunaira won't leave the house anymore, for she refuses to wear the burka that cancels her identity. Atiq's and Mohsen's paths begin converging when Mohsen, in a trance of self-obliteration, helps stone the latest prisoner from Atiq's jail. Out of the spiral of disasters Mohsen's action starts, Zunaira emerges as Atiq's next prisoner, and when he sees how lovely she is, he determines to save her. At the end of Khadra's harrowing portrayal of a society enslaved by anger, Atiq has succeeded and failed, and Zunaira has only possibly been saved. Khadra is the feminine pseudonym of a former Algerian army officer whose experience with Islamic radicals as well as with prolonged warfare bolster the novel's sledgehammer power and authority.
Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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