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My Forbidden Face

Growing Up Under the Taliban : a Young Woman's Story
Jun 09, 2018DBRL_KrisA rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A view of life in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, through the eyes of a young, college-aged woman. "Latifa" (not her real name) grew up in Kabul during the Soviet occupation, the civil war among the mujaheddin, and the hard-line fundamentalist regime of the Taliban. Although Latifa is an aspiring journalist, the book is not written in a journalistic style; rather, it feels more like a personal memoir of everyday life. The reader sees the special difficulties of being a woman under a regime that has stripped women of practically everything - their careers, their education, even their personal identities. And, thanks to the burqa, as the title suggests, even their faces. My issues with the book are minor. Latifa, who readily admits to being spoiled by her father and her siblings, can seem a bit annoying at times - complaining about not being able to go to a wedding reception, or not getting to wear certain clothes - when there are others in much, much worse straits. And her focus is almost entirely on how the Taliban regime affected her life, without giving much attention to those around her. But overall, this is an interesting personal history of life in Afghanistan in the late 20th century.