Storyteller's Daughter

Shah, Saira

ISBN 10: 0060505168 ISBN 13: 9780060505165

Publisher: HarperAudio, 2003

Synopsis

The startling memoir of a young woman shaped by two dramatically disparate worlds: Britain and Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Born in Britain, Saira Shah was inspired by her father's dazzling stories to rediscover the now lost life their forebears knew for 900 years within sight of orchards, snow–topped mountains, and the minarets of Kabul. This is Saira –– part sophisticated and sensitive Western liberal, part fearless (even fierce) life–gulping Afghan. We meet Saira, at 21, becoming a correspondent at the front during the war between the Soviets and the Afghan resistance. Then Saira, self–imprisoned in a burqa, risking her life to film Beneath the Veil –– her acclaimed record of the devastation of women's lives by the Taliban. And finally, Saira discovering her extended family, discovering a world of ritual, of community, of male primacy, of arranged marriages, finding at last the (now war–ravaged) family seat.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The vivid, often startling memoir of a young woman shaped by two dramatically disparate worlds. Saira Shah is the English-born daughter of an Afghan aristocrat, inspired by his dazzling stories to rediscover the now lost life their forebears presided over for nine hundred years within sight of the minarets and lush gardens of Kabul and the snow-topped mountains of the Hindu Kush. Part sophisticated, sensitive Western liberal, part fearless, passionate Afghan, falling in love with her ancestral myth?chasing Afghanistan?Shah becomes, at twenty-one, a correspondent at the front of the war between the Soviets and the Afghan resistance. Then, imprisoning herself in a burqa, she risks her life to film Beneath the Veil, her acclaimed record of the devastation of women?s lives by the Taliban. Discovering her extended family, discovering a world of intense family ritual, of community, of male primacy, of arranged marriages, and finding at last the now war-ravaged family seat, she discovers as well what she wants and what she rejects of her extraordinary heritage.

About the Author:

Saira Shah lives in London and is a freelance journalist. She was born in Britain of an Afghan family. She first visited Afghanistan at age 21 and worked there for three years as a freelance journalist, covering the guerrilla war against the Soviet occupiers. Later, working for Britain's Channel 4 News, she covered some of the world's most troubled spots, including Algeria, Kosovo, and Kinshasa, as well as Baghdad and other parts of the Middle East. Her documentaries Beneath the Veil and Unholy War have both been broadcast on CNN several times.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060505168
• ISBN 13: 9780060505165
• Binding: Audio Cassette
• Number of pages: 368