I loved reading this unique perspective on coming to America. Rather than focusing on life once arriving, she focused on her journey to get here. So often, we have preconceived notions of what Middle Eastern countries are like, but this book challenged these notions and pointed toward a beautiful country corrupted by people in power. I highly recommend this read!

This was an emotional journey as the author recounted the experience of having to suddenly leave her homeland of Afghanistan during the night. To imagine the fear and trauma that must have caused and then the journey from her home, fearful for her life, not knowing if she would ever see her home again. Truly an amazing story of resilience and courage. I was drawn into the narrative and felt compelled to learn more about the region as I read.
Well done. Highly recommend.
#TheBrokenCircle #NetGalley

This book was stunningly visceral, capturing the relationships within Enjeela’s family and her interactions with several transient individuals in her journey out of familiar grounds. Ahmadi-Miller writes with attention to detail, every so often allowing the events in her memoir to unfold almost as if happening in real time. I felt for the children as they struggled in a motherless household for 2 years, feared for them as they crossed war-torn Afghanistan to get to safety, and worried for them as they wondered if their father would ever join them as he’d promised. I think my only slight protest would be the repetitiveness of certain turns of phrase in describing the same character, e.g. her sister Vida as a ray of sunshine in the last few chapters.

Overall, this was a really beautiful and immersive memoir about a broken up family’s journey to a Promised Land and promised reunion.

Heartbreaking and accurate, this memoir is so well written that it sometimes takes you breath away that this author and her family could survive such brutal conditions. The fact that this Afghan family was able to stay together after surmounting heavy odds against them is a testament to love and commitment.

Book Court - Where I'm the Judge and Jury

CHARGE (What is the author trying to say?): To memorialize memories of Afghanistan, the place of her birth.

FACTS: The author was born in a time of the most democratic and modern reforms in Afghanistan. Education and professional life was open to women. When the socialists take power and the Russian’s ultimately invade the country, everything changes. The author’s mother and several of her siblings flee to India where the mother has open heart surgery. Enjeela and her remaining siblings make a treacherous journey to the safety of Pakistan with a paid escort, traveling by foot for the majority of the journey. What they learn as they travel, teaches them about themselves, each other, and the world around them. The entire family is ultimately reunited in India and resettles in the United States. The book opens with a description of the author’s lavish life in the US. This should have been omitted, as it makes later contentions in the book about her growing empathy for those less fortunate ring false.

VERDICT (Was the author successful?): Guilty, as charged. The book is beautifully written and is a gritty coming-of-age under extreme circumstances.

#TheBrokenCircle #NetGalley

Impressive, heartbreaking, and thoughtful. Enjeela endures so much that sometimes this might feel overwhelming but she's got something important to say. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Very good! There are so many reviews for this, I don't how to add any value in my review other than some stars. The story was engaging and vivid, and the written to create real empathy for the characters. Recommended!

I really appreciate the copy for review!