Zarifa: A Woman's Battle in a Man's World

by Zarifa Ghafari, Hannah Lucinda Smith Narrated by Ariana Delawari

Overview

A moving and inspiring memoir by Afghanistan's youngest female mayor and campaigner for human rights.

I am one of the lucky ones.

I got out of Afghanistan alive when the Taliban retook the country. Millions of others did not - they are now living under one of the world's most repressive regimes, with any progress that was made for women over the past twenty years being brutally reversed.

Every day, I yearn for my motherland. Now it is my duty to make sure that the world knows what is happening to women there, and what we must do to
change things for them.

Zarifa Ghafari was three years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools, and she began her education in secret. She was seven when American airstrikes began. She was twenty-six when she became mayor - the only female mayor in the country - of Maidan Wardak, Kabul. An extremist mob barred her from her office; her male staff walked out in protest; assassins tried to kill her six times. Finally, they killed their father. Ghafari stood her ground. She ended corruption in the province, promoted peace and tried to lift up women, despite constant fear for herself and her family. When the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, Ghafari had to flee, narrowly escaping the country on one of the last flights out of Kabul* and finding refuge in Germany.*

Zarifa is an astonishing memoir that offers an unparalleled perspective of the last two decades in Afghanistan. Written with honesty, pain and ultimately, hope, Ghafari describes the work she did, the women she still tries to help as they live under Taliban rule and her vision for how grassroots activism can change their lives and the lives of women everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Ariana Delawari is a strong-voiced narrator for this memoir by Afghanistan's first female mayor. Delawari is measured, precise, and deliberate in her delivery of Zarifa Ghafari's story. Delawari transmits the pain Ghafari endured and the grit she exhibited in the face of no less than six attempts on her life, along with the murder of her father, as a consequence of her taking office. This audiobook is an up-close-and-personal yet sweeping look at a generation of women's experiences in Afghanistan. Delawari recounts Ghafari's childhood under the Taliban regime, the war-torn years that followed, and the brief taste of change. She captures the nostalgia and loss that are interwoven through Ghafari's exile since the Taliban have regained power. This is a timely memoir with far-reaching impact. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

10/24/2022

Afghanistan’s youngest female mayor details her odds-defying ascent in this inspirational memoir. Ghafari notes how “trauma has been passed down with my DNA,” with her maternal grandfather having been killed by a mujahideen militia, and, more recently, her father murdered by the Taliban. After attending Panjab University in India, 26-year-old Ghafari was elected mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital of a central Afghanistan province, and she details how she brought change to the city during her three-year tenure that ended in June 2021. Having campaigned on the idea that “cities have to be governed from the bottom up,” she developed green spaces for city residents, and her administration funded the building of a waste and recycling facility to combat the city’s sewage problems. She also fired officials who had been taking bribes and survived multiple assassination attempts, but after the Taliban overtook Kabul in August 2021, she fled the country. Frank (“Surviving a terror attack—even two—did not make me special”) and impassioned (“I will keep reminding women that they have a voice, and can raise it”), Ghafari’s narrative spotlights the power of activism. This is a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience. Agent: Kelly Falconer, Asia Literary Agency. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

In this earnest and fiery memoir, an activist and politician from Afghanistan recounts how her country’s instability marked her life.”—New York Times

“This is a simply written and inspiring work that zips along with the pace of an adventure story. You can only be left in awestruck admiration at everything Zarifa has already achieved in her short life.”—Geographical

“This is a timely memoir with far-reaching impact.”—Audiofile

“Her self-titled memoir offers her unique perspective on the last two decades in Afghanistan while presenting her vision for how grassroots activism can change the lives of women everywhere.”—Purewow

“Ghafari tells her inspiring life story with sincerity and passion, providing a nuanced and, at times, horrifying glimpse into Afghanistan’s devastating history… A searingly honest, profoundly courageous memoir of one fearless woman’s fight for her homeland.”—Kirkus, starred review

“Frank and impassioned, Ghafari’s narrative spotlights the power of activism… a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience.”—Publishers Weekly

“Anyone wanting to know the grim reality of being a woman in Afghanistan and trying to make a difference could not find a more illuminating book. Zarifa will break your heart.”—Christina Lamb, OBE, chief foreign correspondent, The Sunday Times

“Zarifa’s words, like her life, are an act of courage, weaving heartache with hope. They illuminate all the things we take for granted, especially the ordinary moments, the daily freedoms, and most intimate of relationships. They illuminate the threads that connect our rights, freedoms, and happiness into an interconnected whole.”—Shubhangi Swarup, author of Latitudes of Longing

“Ghafari narrates, in a style most simple but at the same time candid, poignant and powerful, the tales of Afghan women, including herself and her family, who lived and survived the long Afghan civil war marked by unprecedented violence… This gripping book can be read at one go and surely is a must buy.”—Telegraph (India)

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Ariana Delawari is a strong-voiced narrator for this memoir by Afghanistan's first female mayor. Delawari is measured, precise, and deliberate in her delivery of Zarifa Ghafari's story. Delawari transmits the pain Ghafari endured and the grit she exhibited in the face of no less than six attempts on her life, along with the murder of her father, as a consequence of her taking office. This audiobook is an up-close-and-personal yet sweeping look at a generation of women's experiences in Afghanistan. Delawari recounts Ghafari's childhood under the Taliban regime, the war-torn years that followed, and the brief taste of change. She captures the nostalgia and loss that are interwoven through Ghafari's exile since the Taliban have regained power. This is a timely memoir with far-reaching impact. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2022-07-27
A politician and activist recounts the personal and political effects of the rise and fall of the Taliban in her native country of Afghanistan.

Born in 1994, Ghafari was “raised during the Taliban’s first regime” and “came of age in the era following 2001, as a supposedly democratic government was being propped up by Western armies, aid organisations, and billions of dollars.” Although she loved going to school, the Taliban’s increasing presence in Paktia, the province in the Tora Bora mountains where her father was working, made it dangerous for girls to receive an education. It was so dangerous, in fact, that her father forbade her from attending school, a directive she ignored until she found herself in the path of a suicide bomber while sneaking to school against her father’s orders. Despite this traumatizing experience, which also included a skull injury caused by shrapnel from the explosion, she continued to secretly attend school. She was only able to finish her schooling through a scholarship to Chandigarh, India, where, after intense study, she learned enough to return to Afghanistan and pass a rigorous examination process that resulted in her appointment as the mayor of Wardak. In that role, Ghafari diligently battled corruption until her father’s murder made her fear for her family’s safety and forced her to transfer to the defense ministry in Kabul. Soon after, the Taliban invaded, forcing Ghafari and her loved ones to flee the country. This harrowing journey plunged her into depression but also spurred her into activism. The author tells her inspiring life story with sincerity and passion, providing a nuanced and, at times, horrifying glimpse into Afghanistan’s devastating history. The last two chapters are particularly gripping, as Ghafari chronicles the physical and emotional chaos that enveloped the country after the withdrawal of American troops in 2021.

A searingly honest, profoundly courageous memoir of one fearless woman’s fight for her homeland.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175356268
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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