Where It All Goes Down
Kabul, Afghanistan
Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, and when our book opens, the city has been under Taliban control for about a year and a half. The once-beautiful city where Nooria used to browse in "fine shops for clothes and books" (1.45) is now rubble and ashes—bombs have turned neighborhood "homes and businesses into bricks and dust" (1.44). There was a time when "fertile valleys" (12.54) brought fresh fruit and traders into Kabul, but not anymore—war has taken away the country's beauty, and as Father says, "Kabul has more land mines than flowers" (10.42). Yikes.
The Taliban didn't just bring destruction to Kabul, though—they brought oppression as well—and the very first thing they did when they arrived on the scene was strip women of their rights. Women can no longer attend school, work, or wear anything but a burqa, and they are forbidden from leaving their homes without a man. With the Taliban controlling every facet of people's lives, Kabul is a pretty dismal place, and the people that live here have very few opportunities; most of the country is illiterate.
It's a grim setting for a story, but also completely based on truth. The laws and landscape are accurate to the time—the late 1990s—which is important to keep in mind as we read. While the characters and plot are made up, there's a whole lot of truth tucked into these pages.