Something New

   We feature each fortnight Nicholas Reid's reviews and comments on new and recent books.  

CITY OF WIDOWS by Nadia Hashimi ( Harper-Collins NZ$66.99 )

Let’s be honest. How many of us know anything about Afghanistan? I always knew that Afghanistan has Pakistan on its right and Iran on its left and a little bit of Russia on its north. I know this because I have often looked at maps. And I did know that in the 19^th century both the British Empire and the Russian Empire tried, without success, to take over or tame Afghanistan. But as for more recent history I have only a very limited knowledge of Afghanistan. So before I read Nadia Hashimi’s novel City of Widows, I checked a number of things. The recent history of Afghanistan goes something like this. Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and took over until they retreated in 1989. While the Russians tried to allow girls to go to high-school and university they found themselves against a growing Islamic Republic of Afghanistan which was made up of many different ideas – most wanting democracy. At the same time there were the Mujahideen insurgents who harassed the Russians… and then there was the Taliban, which can only be seen as an extremist version of Islamic ideas. While some women were accepting the idea that men only could become politicians, doctors, etc. more women were wanting their place in the nation. At first it seemed that the Taliban would accept a place in the parliament , but it was soon clear that the Taliban wanted to take over. At which point the U.S.A. invaded in October 2001 and stayed there for some years. There was an Afghan National Army ready to fight the Taliban and there was a Female Tactical Platoon which was trained by the Americans. And that is my account of what happened.

So to Nadia Hashimi’s novel City of Widows. Hashimi lives in America and she is the daughter of Afghan immigrants. The story she tells – in all 418 pages of it – is very much a feminist story, with an emphasis on how the intelligent women got by when it was clear that the Americans were about to withdraw. Some people still think that the Taliban will not take over but will become parts of the government.

There are some dominant women. There is Rahima who had been a warrior but her child was locked up. She is one of the many women who want to know where their fathers are. Many people shout Allahu Akbar in the street [God is Great] but “The Taliban have usurped the phase, manipulated the devotion into a battle cry.” There is also a brave woman called Mina who runs a radio bulletin explaining how the Kabul could still be saved by the Afghan National Army. At one point the Taliban almost break into her station, but they are repelled.

But the major character is Marjan. Even before the Taliban took over, Afghan men took it for granted that they were able take children away from a mother without her consent.  As one character says “Birth certificates intentionally did not bear a mother’s name until only a year ago, and many still grumbled about the impropriety of seeing a woman’s given name on an official document.” Marjan has a little girl called Hawa. Marjam’s husband was Abdul Khalig who was something of a thug when he wanted to be. Marjan decided to get her little child away from Abdul Khalig but “every mother in Afghanistan knew that in the rare case of a dissolved marriage, the law sided with men in the issue of custody.”… so Hawa was put into orphanages, much as she did not want to. But at least she could keep in touch with her child.

And there is a side of Marjan that we understand only gradually. Marjan has had  training as a member of the Female Tactical Platoon – attached to the Afghan National Army, as taught by the Americans. She has been a soldier. But her first priority is to save and look after her child. Hawa grows… and as she does … so do more and more people think that once the Americans leave, the Taliban will destroy anything like democracy.

But who have the documents that would allow one to board an American plane? There are armed members of the Taliban, waiting outside the perimeter to check documents and ready to grab anyone who says something they do not like. There are two incidents in this novel where Marjan, with her child, tries to pass the perimeter. The first time there is a very huge crowd of people waiting and waiting… and then a fanatic Talib throws a bomb into the crowd, killing many and no more people are allowed in. The second time Marjan and her child do get through…. And there follow conversations among those women who had been able to get to the American planes… and they have much to say about how terrible the Taliban regime will be for women.

Nadia Hashimi has written a clear account of what life was like for women  in Afghanistan and it is understandable that she presents Americans positively. At the same time, I can’t help remembering seeing on television the horror of crowds desperately running along runways in the hope of being taken on board… and being ignored. It is very like what happened when the Americans left Vietnam…

Any main flaw? It is not only rather too long, but often it is written in the present tense which can be confusing.