Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom [Paperback]

John Follain (Author), Rita Cristofari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2003

Kabul was always more beautiful in the snow. Even the piles of rotting rubbish in my street, the only source of food for the scrawny chickens and goats that our neighbors kept outside their mud houses, looked beautiful to me after the snow had covered them in white during the long night.

Though she is only twenty-three, Zoya has witnessed and endured more tragedy and terror than most people experience in a lifetime. Born in a land ravaged by war, she was robbed of her parents when they were murdered by Muslim fundamentalists. Devastated, she fled Kabul with her grandmother and started a new life in exile in Pakistan. She joined the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an organization that challenged the crushing edicts of the Taliban government, and she took destiny into her own hands, joining a dangerous, clandestine war to save her nation.

Direct and unsentimental, Zoya vividly brings to life the realities of growing up in a Muslim culture, the terror of living in a perpetual war zone, the pain of losing those she has loved, the horrors of a woman’s life under the Taliban, and the discovered healing and transformation that lead her on a path of resistance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Now 23, Zoya was a child during the Russian invasion and a teen when the Taliban took power. The daughter of activists in Kabul, Zoya was raised by her grandmother after her parents disappeared. She now belongs to RAWA (see the review of Veiled Courage, above), a group her mother belonged to. Her reflections show the complex scars made by the tug of war between factional governments and tribal warlords, especially the effects of the Taliban. Many of Zoya's stories (e.g., women only permitted to leave their homes wearing a burqa and accompanied by a male; women often suffering and dying for want of a female physician) are covered in Latifa's My Forbidden Face. Zoya tells of a society where kite flying, bright colors and even women's laughter is forbidden, and enforcers are often armed with Russian military leftovers or crude stones. Yet the Afghans Zoya speaks of remain rebellious and hopeful. She writes, "When I... saw Kabul in the daylight, even the mountains beyond the city which had seemed so peaceful to me when I was a child looked sad. But... that I had seen them again... made me feel stronger." Assigned by RAWA to live and work in a refugee camp near the Afghan-Pakistani border, Zoya now also travels abroad to raise funds for her organization. Her narrative voice is quiet and clear, making her recollections of the breathtaking violence she has witnessed nail-bitingly vivid and her descriptions of her struggle candid and poignant. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

After both her parents were killed by the predecessors of the Taliban, the Mujahideen, Zoya took up her mother's work in RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and, with her grandmother, journeyed to Pakistan, where she could receive an education at a school run by RAWA. A few years later, Zoya returned to Afghanistan to help her people and get firsthand accounts of the horrors of the Taliban reign. Zoya herself witnessed public executions and amputations, but she also witnessed heartening displays of courage--women defying the Taliban by holding secret classes and shopping in the marketplace. Zoya remains skeptical about the future of Afghanistan after the Taliban, afraid that after the U.S. involvement ends, the Mujahideen will return to their old ways. A stirring memoir by an uncompromisingly brave woman.

Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060097833
• ISBN-13: 978-0060097837
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > History > Asia > Afghanistan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peaceful revolution to change their world of violence., June 10, 2002

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom (Hardcover)

Words are not enough to portray the emotion packed into the telling of Zoya's Story. Brought up with parents who believed in education, democracy, human rights, feminism, and above all a mother deeply involved in "The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan", also known as RAWA, Zoya's story begins as a young child in the city of Kabul. We follow her earlier days through the Russian occupation, then the Mujahideen of the Northern Alliance, made up of warlords that raped and murdered their own people, and finally through the insanity of the Taliban, a perverse adherence to nothing that even slightly resembles the teachings of Mohammed and the pronouncements made in the Koran, where women became something to be hidden, not to laugh or voice a word.

Zoya was educated and cared for by RAWA and by the age of 16 became an active member in this organization that reaches out to thousands of Afghan women, supporting them financially, educationally, and psychologically. Though only 23 years of age at the telling of this story, Zoya has lived far more than a lifetime. Her patriotism runs so deep it will wrench your heart. She believes that the future of her beloved Afghanistan lies in the intellects and hearts of the children, at any cost they must be educated so they can meet the needs of a democratic society in the future. Small groups of children are hidden away in safe houses where they are educated, in a country where it is in threat of death for a woman to learn and the only lessons to be given are study of the Koran.

I was appalled by the atrocities, unspeakable tortures, and hatred put forth in the name of religion and suffered by the Afghan people under the reign of the fundamentalists. Yet I was strengthened by the knowledge that there are educated people working diligently to return this country to a well-deserved peace after years of unjustifiable war at the hands of those men in power. May Allah grant their prayers and smile down upon them.

This was truly one of the best books I ever read. Accurate, and filled with a candor that leaves you with a need to do something to make this world just a little bit better. Most of all it made me realize, I should be thankful every day of my life for the freedom I have as an American. Kelsana 6/10/02

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profile in Courage, April 25, 2002

By 

Gary K Hart (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom (Hardcover)

As a high school history teacher, I am always looking for materials that will engage and is appropriate for a young adult audience. Zoya's Story does a masterful job of telling a remarkable story about an extraordinary young woman that will catch the attention of younger readers (which is a challenge with political and historical material). The vocabulary is understandable for younger readers but is not simplistic. The understated writing style is powerful and accessible for diverse readers. And although the examples of horrible cruelty and absurdity are many, the author doesn't dwell on them so the story doesn't seem tiresome or preachy.
Zoya's desire not to marry or give birth is in a certain sense unsettling as she seems in so many ways a caring and compassionate person. However, her commitment to her people and to RAWA apparently doesn't leave time for personal pleasures and serious heterosexual relationships.
I hope there is a sequel to Zoya's Story---it would be interesting in a few years to see where Zoya is, whether her spirit is unwavering and what she makes of the Northern Alliance, the United States, RAWA, etc.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Veil of Resistance, Courage, and Sorrow, November 12, 2003

By 

Joanneva12a (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom (Hardcover)

Those that live through the destruction of their homeland will have their lives forever changed. The rest of us only have to glimpse into the window of a world in which we are only too grateful to be far removed from.

From her youngest days as a child, to a full fledged member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), Zoya tells her story simply but it holds much impact. Her courage and determination are remarkable as she tells of a childhood occupied by the Russians, driven out by the Mujahideen, and overthrown by the Taliban. As every new oppressor, each more savage then the previous tore her country apart, she continued her work to reveal the truth to the world, to fight for a women's right to education, and to bring relief to refugees who have lost everything.

Her story and message is one of continued hope for her country that has been betrayed so many times, and she seems unshaken in her loyalty to her country and her mission. She continues her covert work to this day, and like her RAWA sisters, continues to keep her true identity hidden.