Sparks Like Stars: A Novel
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Description
An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low.
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives.
Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name—Aryana Shepherd—and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured.
New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana’s world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room—a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana’s fury and desire for answers—and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul—a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban—and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost.
Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a story of home—of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival, reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi’s singular voice.
Book Information
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Nachdem ich von Nadia Hashimis "Hinter dem Regenbogen" so begeistert war, wollte ich unbedingt mehr von ihr lesen. Es sollte "Sparks Like Stars" werden. Und eine Enttäuschung ausserdem. Konnte ich im ersten Buch völlig versinken und das Leben und die Figuren praktisch greifen, so war in diesem Werk das genaue Gegenteil der Fall. Die Handlung schafft es nicht, in die Tiefe zu gehen. Man erfährt praktisch nichts über die Hintergründe der Revolution und anstatt Gefühle zu wecken, kommt es bloss zu aufgebauschten Dramen. Wäre es kein Challengebuch für mehrere Punkte gewesen - ich hätte abgebrochen. Das Hörbuch hörte ich auf 1.5x-facher Geschwindigkeit, weil ich es einfach durch haben wollte. Welch steiler Absturz, welch schmerzhafte Erfahrung. Ich kann nicht sagen, ob ich wirklich noch einmal ein Buch von Hashimi lesen möchte, oder ob ich es sein lassen soll. Das Leseschicksal wird entscheiden.
Description
An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low.
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives.
Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name—Aryana Shepherd—and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured.
New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana’s world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room—a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana’s fury and desire for answers—and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul—a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban—and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost.
Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a story of home—of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival, reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi’s singular voice.
Book Information
Posts
Nachdem ich von Nadia Hashimis "Hinter dem Regenbogen" so begeistert war, wollte ich unbedingt mehr von ihr lesen. Es sollte "Sparks Like Stars" werden. Und eine Enttäuschung ausserdem. Konnte ich im ersten Buch völlig versinken und das Leben und die Figuren praktisch greifen, so war in diesem Werk das genaue Gegenteil der Fall. Die Handlung schafft es nicht, in die Tiefe zu gehen. Man erfährt praktisch nichts über die Hintergründe der Revolution und anstatt Gefühle zu wecken, kommt es bloss zu aufgebauschten Dramen. Wäre es kein Challengebuch für mehrere Punkte gewesen - ich hätte abgebrochen. Das Hörbuch hörte ich auf 1.5x-facher Geschwindigkeit, weil ich es einfach durch haben wollte. Welch steiler Absturz, welch schmerzhafte Erfahrung. Ich kann nicht sagen, ob ich wirklich noch einmal ein Buch von Hashimi lesen möchte, oder ob ich es sein lassen soll. Das Leseschicksal wird entscheiden.