Born into a middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980, Latifa had a conventional childhood. Then, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. And fro...
read full description
reviews
Jun 28, 2007
Babsmu
rated it: 
an important book, but it moves sooooo slow. I feel bad that I have to teach it.
5 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 27, 2010
BoekenTrol
rated it: 
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8236...
I bought this book out of curiosity. All the discussions about burqa's, voiles, women covering their head. I wanted t know more about the country that is, for me, symbolic for the burqa. It was in a report on Afghanistan that I first saw these blue things that women were hiding in.
Once again I am happy that I grew up and live in a free country... To have to fight for your human (let alone female) rights, have to hide yourself and your i More...
I bought this book out of curiosity. All the discussions about burqa's, voiles, women covering their head. I wanted t know more about the country that is, for me, symbolic for the burqa. It was in a report on Afghanistan that I first saw these blue things that women were hiding in.
Once again I am happy that I grew up and live in a free country... To have to fight for your human (let alone female) rights, have to hide yourself and your i More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 24, 2011
Aliyah
rated it:
In this story Latifa, a sixteen year old girl born and raised in Afghanistan, has her rights stripped from her under Taliban tyranny. Latifa has to go from being free and allowed an education and able to follow her dreams as a journalist, to basically becoming a canary in a cage. The Taliban decree laws that are sexist and demoralizing to women. Latifa brings us through the years of suffering endured by her family and other Afghans. This Story gave me a very heartfelt understanding to Latifa, in
More...
Apr 23, 2009
Milan/zzz
rated it:
"So, since men as well as women are forbidden by law to laugh in the streets and children are forbidden to play ..."
Can you imagine living under law that forbids laughter? And why on earth someone would force that law? We all know (I suppose) that Talibans are utter fanatics but I’m sure Islam doesn’t forbids laughter. I mean every religion should bring joy to its believer so how come this paradox? And that’s not the only one of course.
To anyone who is familiar with T More...
Can you imagine living under law that forbids laughter? And why on earth someone would force that law? We all know (I suppose) that Talibans are utter fanatics but I’m sure Islam doesn’t forbids laughter. I mean every religion should bring joy to its believer so how come this paradox? And that’s not the only one of course.
To anyone who is familiar with T More...
Jan 17, 2012
Monk
rated it:
Started reading this when my daughter had to buy it for a high school class. Actually, she told me that she was reading a book by Queen Latifa in her Geography class. After some time, we sorted out that this was NOT written by Queen Latifa, who, despite being the size of a planet, is not a proper subject of study for AP Geography.
Anyhoo, picked it up and had a hard time putting it down. It's not a great book...the structure falls apart several times and even at 200 pages it can drag a b More...
Anyhoo, picked it up and had a hard time putting it down. It's not a great book...the structure falls apart several times and even at 200 pages it can drag a b More...
Jan 29, 2012
Rebecca
rated it:
This is not a good example of the whole women/fundamentalist Islam genre which had its heyday in the early years of the new millennium. There are far more stirring tales of such woes on the market. While the plight of Latifa is not to be sneered at, the book is not one of the best mediums to convey the real difficulties of women under the Taliban. Readers should try other books for a deeper understanding and to gain more empathy.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 24, 2011
Patricia
rated it:
This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul. Her country had been at war her entire life. Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes. One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner
More...
Mar 10, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
Great insight into the history of Aghanistan's tumultuous history told through the eyes of a young woman who has lived through it all. From Soviet occupation through various regimes, the Taliban, and finally the current government she describes the unfortunate effects on her life and future. I like the book and learned a lot. It is obvious that the story is being told through an interpreter and thus it doesn't flow. She also skips around in time quite a bit, however she gets her point across
More...
Mar 04, 2009
♥ Marlene♥
rated it:
This book took me 3 days to read and this is such a thin little book. I did think it was interesting, the life of the people of Afghanistan, but it wasn't like, i want to know more, I cannot stop reading. To be honest this book was a bit of a bore. There are much better accounts like this one. I do think it was okay though. Glad that I was able to read. 7.5 out of 10
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 22, 2009
Xxxbabyxxx
rated it: 
I loved this book. I find it disgusting that people want more from this girl. I’m sorry but did you miss the people being raped and killed? Have people become so selfish that they can only see but their own suffering. Anyone that says this book is a bore is a pathetic excuse for a human being. Latifa didn’t write this book for you to come on here and say it’s boring or it needs something more. She wrote what she wanted people to hear about her life. She wasn’t thinking to herself,” How many book
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 07, 2009
Miss Purl
rated it:
This is a memoir about Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, told by a woman who was 16 when the Taliban first took control and 22 when she finally escaped to France with some of her family. Instead of recounting the story here, I’ll just link to this book review, which I agree with for the most part.
I did enjoy it. The writing isn’t spectacular, and I think it’s geared toward teenagers, but it’s a quick read and very eye-opening. There are some anecdotes in there about things that have ha More...
I did enjoy it. The writing isn’t spectacular, and I think it’s geared toward teenagers, but it’s a quick read and very eye-opening. There are some anecdotes in there about things that have ha More...
Sep 24, 2007
bridget.
rated it:
the content is so interesting. so little i know as an american. her writing is simple.. not particularly great, but very readable. she is a journalist at heart, and her book is writtne much in this way.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 01, 2010
Sanz
rated it: 
Why do I get to live a privileged life and these women are beaten, tortured, banned from receiving medical/healthcare and not allowed to leave their homes without a male family member? This is the story of a young woman growing up in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over in the mid nineties. According to the author (who wrote this book under a false name) Pakistan supported the Taliban and yet the rest of the world (including the U.S.) was supporting Pakistan. I didn't realize the influence
More...
Mar 21, 2010
Evelyn
rated it:
This is the testimony of Latifa, a 16-year-old girl, who lived in Kabul when the Taliban turned it upside down. Writing under a pseudonym, her story enlightens the dark reality of how this oppressive regime shut the voices of women. Female faces were to be unseen, concealed behind a burka, they were banned from leaving their homes without a male relative, and they were also banned them from work, schools, and public life. Latifa had planned on pursuing journalism, bt when the Taliban took over,
More...
Dec 09, 2008
Shannon
rated it:
I started to think of this as an Afghani version of Anne Frank's diary- a personal narrative of a young woman who experienced life before and during a repressive regime, generally in pretty plain terms for easy access. I would love to see this taught to US middle/high schoolers as I learned more about Afghanistan's history of conflict than I have in my last few months of informal research.
The book does jump around a bit, and is less thorough in explanations of past events and history More...
The book does jump around a bit, and is less thorough in explanations of past events and history More...
Feb 02, 2009
Lori
rated it:
This is a young woman's story of growing up in Afghanistan. She tells how the politics of her country has affected her life and that of her family's. When she was young, they dealt with Soviet rule who imprisoned her brother. At 16 she had to deal with the Taliban coming into power. At first she was depressed and just stayed in her apartment since the only way to go out in public was to be with a male member of her family and then wearing the full body covering of a burka. It is a very enl
More...
Apr 14, 2009
Joanne
rated it:
This is a book about a young girl who grew up in Soviet occupied Afghanistan and was 16 years old when the Taliban came. The most profound thing I learned is how the change that women experienced under the Taliban was literally overnight - at least for those who lived in Kabul. One day this girl was going to school and applying for college. Her sister worked for the airlines. The next day all businesses were closed, the radio and television stations were off the air, and women could not leave th
More...
Dec 01, 2010
Bobertoq
rated it: 
The ending of this book is incredibly lame. It seems like the author got bored of writing and decided to end the book there. The beginning is pretty slow and boring, too. And so is everything in between. It is unclear what the climax or any major events are. The only thing I got out of the book is that the Taliban are bad.
Also, the author goes off on random tangents that last up to several pages. It got a little confusing, and it's annoying. I wouldn't be surprised if half the book is More...
Also, the author goes off on random tangents that last up to several pages. It got a little confusing, and it's annoying. I wouldn't be surprised if half the book is More...
Jun 07, 2011
Loria
rated it:
This is a great biography about strong women in unbelievable situations. The author's mother a doctor is unable to practice medicine and women are not allowed to see male doctors. This leaves a lot of women out of work and even more without health care. How can men deny the mothers of their children healthcare. Don't they care about the health of their unborn children? What kind of a culture discards 1/2 of it's population as unworthy of care. How can men decide that women are not alowed to be i
More...
Jul 25, 2009
Debbie (Readerbuzz)
rated it:
I was fascinating with how Afghanistan
changed under the Taliban. At first,
simple laws were passed that restricted
activities the Taliban considered evil.
Slowly, more and more laws were passed,
making more and more activities declared
evil. Finally, the laws were so stringent
that no one, not even the More...
changed under the Taliban. At first,
simple laws were passed that restricted
activities the Taliban considered evil.
Slowly, more and more laws were passed,
making more and more activities declared
evil. Finally, the laws were so stringent
that no one, not even the More...
Jun 19, 2009
Sherri
rated it:
This is an important book to read. The author is a young woman that explains daily life in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. There are historical facts that I learned and will have to further investigate, such as the involvement of the United States. If we had paid more attention to Afghanistan before 9/11 occurred, we may have been able to stop the bombing in New York City. This book is a first hand, detailed experience of the unfairness of life for women under the Taliban rule. My qu
More...
Dec 17, 2008
Heather
rated it:
Latifa is a young woman growing up in Afganistan. She tells her story of how her life changes when the Taliban take over the country. Life for all women, young and old changes under the Taliban. They are no longer able to hold jobs and go to school. Latifa is one of many of the women who create secret schools for girls. She tells how she lives shut away in her home and her final journey to Paris. This book is a fascinating biography of a teenager living under extreme oppression and how she survi
More...
Dec 07, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
In the past year I've been trying to read more authors from the Middle East and books about Middle Eastern history. During the process, I have gravitated toward women's memoirs from the region. I picked up My Forbidden Face months ago for this reason, as well as for the arresting cover photo.
Latifa is the pseudonym of a young woman, born in Kabul in 1980, who grew up during the Soviet occupation of her country and the subsequent struggle for power by rival factions. She was sixteen wh More...
Latifa is the pseudonym of a young woman, born in Kabul in 1980, who grew up during the Soviet occupation of her country and the subsequent struggle for power by rival factions. She was sixteen wh More...
Sep 06, 2010
Elaine
rated it:
Latifa is a pseudonym for the author.
Taliban, (singular Talib) are educated in the Koranic schools of Pakistan who follow the tenets of Deobandism which preaches the rejection of all outside influences. Founded at the end of the nineteenth century in Deoband, India, and supported by the British, who were looking for a religious counterweight to the Hindu faith.
Pashtun is the dominant ethnic group of Afghanistan.
December 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanista More...
Taliban, (singular Talib) are educated in the Koranic schools of Pakistan who follow the tenets of Deobandism which preaches the rejection of all outside influences. Founded at the end of the nineteenth century in Deoband, India, and supported by the British, who were looking for a religious counterweight to the Hindu faith.
Pashtun is the dominant ethnic group of Afghanistan.
December 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanista More...
Jan 12, 2010
Windy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 22, 2008
Helen
rated it:
Very powerful (and recent, and relevant) memoir about four years in an Afghan girl's life (from when she's 16 to 20 years old) under the Taliban regime (spanning 1996-2000, approximately).
Just when you think your life is crappy, you read about the lives that others are living overseas (or in your very own city) and realize just how bad it can be. The decrees of the Taliban range from inhuman to simply bizarre: no laughing in the streets, no photos of humans or animals, no health ca More...
Just when you think your life is crappy, you read about the lives that others are living overseas (or in your very own city) and realize just how bad it can be. The decrees of the Taliban range from inhuman to simply bizarre: no laughing in the streets, no photos of humans or animals, no health ca More...
Mar 17, 2008
Kimberly
rated it:
When we American women complain about inequality, we could wake up one day and face the situation of the women of Afghanistan...what a nightmare. Overnight, educated professional women are deprived of their careers, college women are separated from the possibility of a future and girls are removed from early education. A calculated strategy to eradicate any challenge from women in a newly re-established male dominant society. The women are even prevented from giving or receiving basic health
More...
Oct 28, 2007
yuzhen
rated it:
During the first week of school, we learnt about the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and the effects and disadvantages that the women faced under the harsh and suppressing rulers. The Taliban, upon seizing power, started a system of gender discrimination effectively thrusting the women of Afghanistan into a state of virtual house arrest, as seen in this website stating all the harsh rules that women had to follow. When i first knew of these, i was shocked that i have never knew of their cruelty and
More...
Mar 22, 2011
Paula
rated it:
This read is one of three that I have selected for an independent study I am conducting with a student. In my opinion, this book did for Afghani life during the Taliban takeover what Schindler's List did for broadening the understanding of the small details of the Jewish Holocaust.
Imagine being a teenage girl, one moment living in freedom having just finished your first exam for entrance into journalism school, the next moment rights are stripped away. Written under pseudonym, th More...
Imagine being a teenage girl, one moment living in freedom having just finished your first exam for entrance into journalism school, the next moment rights are stripped away. Written under pseudonym, th More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 07, 2009
Morgan
rated it:
this is a hard book to review. i feel as if the ratings this site allows for books doesn't satisfy when it comes to this book. many of the issues this book talks about are not pleasant and downright horrible. however, i believe that it is a necessary book to read for all who can stomach it. it is very informative in the most intimate of details about the tragedy that occurs daily for those living under Taliban rule. Latifa's story is one that needs to be heard.
