When the Moon is Low / Nadia Hashimi. 4 stars

[LibraryCin]

Fereiba falls for her neighbour but his mother matches him up to marry Fereiba’s beautiful half-sister, instead, and she is crushed. However, it turns out far better for her when she marries his cousin, Mahmoud. They are in Kabul, and though they have grown up with relative freedom (Fereiba became a teacher), the Taliban take over and more and more is restricted. To their horror, Mahmoud is arrested… and never comes home. Fereiba has three children and decides she needs to leave. The story is told partly by Fereiba and partly by her oldest son, Saleem, a teenager when they leave.

I listened to the audio. Fereiba and Saleem were narrated by different people, so you could tell easily and quickly where you were. I thought this was very good. It captured how difficult it was to get out and how they would survive while doing so, though this family did have some advantages, as Mahmoud was thinking ahead (just not enough ahead for him to be able to leave with them).