Zakia and Ali grew up as neighbors and fell in love from afar. Defying their families and Afghan custom, the young lovers—both from different Muslim sects—eloped and went into hiding. When Rod Nordland came upon them, he felt obligated, having shared their story in the pages of the New York Times, to help them to safety—but there was a limit to how well he could protect them.

Despite more than a decade of American good intentions, women in Afghanistan are still subjected to some of the worst human rights violations in the world. Rod Nordland tells a compelling tale of forbidden love, governmental bungling, and reckless disregard for basic human rights, and illustrates the degree to which mysogyny persists in traditional Afghan culture. The Lovers is a story of one couple’s unshakable self-determination and the irrepressibility of human feeling in the face of a shockingly repressive society.

Author: Rod Nordland
Published Year: 2016
ISBN: 9780062378828
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 384
Language: English