Overview:
A harrowing yet tender novel—Bend It Like Beckham in a burka—The Taliban Cricket Club is a moving and unforgettable tale of one woman’s courage and guile in the face of terror and tyranny. Set in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan, this extraordinary new fiction by Timeri N. Murari, acclaimed author of the international bestseller, Taj, is a sweeping story of love, family, resilience, and survival, featuring an unforgettable heroine determined to help her loved ones win their freedom with a bat and a ball.
Rukhsana – the protagonist of this book – is one of the few female journalists left in an oppressive, Taliban-occupied Kabul. She lives day-to-day, unsure of her career’s fate, and her ability to survive. Her fears are not unfounded – she is soon summoned by the notorious Zorak Wahidi to the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (This institution really exists, I am not making it up). Certain that her time is up, Rukhsana is shocked when Wahidi offers her an escape proposition instead of the death sentence she was intensely dreading.
Wahidi informs Rukhsana that the victorious team of a cricket tournament (of which Rukhsana is the organizer) will be sent to Pakistan for an international level match. Rukhsana’s only means of leaving Afghanistan lies in that cricket team. But Wahidi – the enabler of her covert plan –soon poses a thorn in it. He wants to do more that just help Rukhsana – he wishes to marry her. Will Rukhsana succeed in finding a safe haven in Pakistan? Will she transform from path-breaking female journalist to Wahidi’s submissive wife? And what about her first love, the handsome Indian man she fell for in Delhi? Rukhsana’s adventure-filled, love-torn life may be hard to empathize with, but Murari tells her story in such a relatable way that you feel like you are having a conversation with one of your best friends.
“A moving, splendidly realized story of courage and grit in modern-day Kabul.”
—Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire
“An engaging new novel. . . . Murari’s imagined tale of how a desperate group of Afghans seizes this opportunity to seek their freedom offers insights into the dangers, deprivations, passions, and aspirations of everyday Afghan life.” (National Geographic Traveler)
“Fans of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner will here find a similarly uplifting story about good people surviving their horrific circumstances. . . . Murari has crafted a tense, compelling story.” (Library Journal)
“There is a twist in the tale—and it is a clever one.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“Required reading.” (New York Post)
“A beautifully written novel that takes the reader through the shrouded world of one woman whose only crime is being a woman.... I loved this riveting book.” (Deborah Rodriguez, New York Times bestselling author of Kabul Beauty School)
“A moving, splendidly realized story of courage and grit in modern-day Kabul. I was won over by Murari’s uplifting and vastly entertaining sporting tale, which reaffirms the power of friendship, fellowship, and love in the face of all forms of tyranny.” (Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire and Six Suspects)
“A lovely, diverting and moving tale of contemporary Kabul, about love, courage, passion, tyranny and cricket. Murari has an uncommon tale to tell, and does so with imagination and empathy.” (Shashi Tharoor, award-winning author of The Great Indian Novel)
“A compelling novel about cricket in war-torn Kabul, narrated by a young woman who refuses to be silenced by the Taliban.” (Shelf Awareness)
No comments:
Post a Comment