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A House Without Windows: A Novel Audiobook
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(5.00) - 2 listener ratings
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A vivid, unforgettable story of an unlikely sisterhood—an emotionally powerful and haunting tale of friendship that illuminates the plight of women in a traditional culture—from the author of the bestselling The Pearl That Broke Its Shell and When the Moon Is Low.
For two decades, Zeba was a loving wife, a patient mother, and a peaceful villager. But her quiet life is shattered when her husband, Kamal, is found brutally murdered with a hatchet in the courtyard of their home. Nearly catatonic with shock, Zeba is unable to account for her whereabouts at the time of his death. Her children swear their mother could not have committed such a heinous act. Kamal’s family is sure she did, and demands justice.
Barely escaping a vengeful mob, Zeba is arrested and jailed. As Zeba awaits trial, she meets a group of women whose own misfortunes have also led them to these bleak cells: thirty-year-old Nafisa, imprisoned to protect her from an honor killing; twenty-five-year-old Latifa, who ran away from home with her teenage sister but now stays in the prison because it is safe shelter; and nineteen-year-old Mezhgan, pregnant and unmarried, waiting for her lover’s family to ask for her hand in marriage. Is Zeba a cold-blooded killer, these young women wonder, or has she been imprisoned, as they have been, for breaking some social rule? For these women, the prison is both a haven and a punishment. Removed from the harsh and unforgiving world outside, they form a lively and indelible sisterhood.
Into this closed world comes Yusuf, Zeba’s Afghan-born, American-raised lawyer, whose commitment to human rights and desire to help his motherland have brought him back. With the fate of this seemingly ordinary housewife in his hands, Yusuf discovers that, like Afghanistan itself, his client may not be at all what he imagines.
A moving look at the lives of modern Afghan women, A House Without Windows is astonishing, frightening, and triumphant.
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"Absolutely loved the story. Never heard of this author before, will definitely look for her other books."
— CAT_from NC (5 out of 5 stars)
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“Nadia Hashimi’s third novel proves to be her best yet and will enchant anyone looking for a complicated story about a rich culture and the people that navigate it.”
— RT Book Reviews (4½ stars, Top Pick!) -
“With elements of love, anger, and sheer optimism, Hashimi’s latest is sure to engross those who enjoyed her previous novels and attract new readers as well.”
— Library Journal -
“Hashimi mercilessly exposes the savage crimes against women committed in the name of honor…She masterfully builds tension, torquing sympathies to heart-wrenching levels…Powerful.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Narrators Ariana Delawari and Susan Nezami portray a range of characters while recounting the complicated lives of the housewives turned murder suspects…As their stories are told in delicate tones, the details of these women’s lives will echo in the listener’s mind long after the story has finished. An artful story, full of emotion, delivered at a deliberate pace.”
— AudioFile
A House Without Windows Listener Reviews
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Maria F Santillana, 2/6/2021
About Nadia Hashimi
Nadia Hashimi was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. Both her parents were born in Afghanistan and left in the early 1970s, before the Soviet invasion. In 2002, she made her first trip to Afghanistan with her parents. She is a pediatrician and the author of three books for adults, as well as the middle-grade novels One Half from the East and The Sky at Our Feet
About the Narrators
Susan Nezami is an audiobook narrator whose readings include The Idealist by Nina Munk, among others.
Ariana Delawari, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a musician, director, and actress. A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, she directed We Came Home, an award-winning documentary about her journeys to Afghanistan since 9/11, the making of her album “Lion of Panjshir,” and her family story. She recently became the first female of Afghan descent to perform rock music live in Afghanistan in over thirty years. She is also a member of the LA Ladies Choir and was recently a speaker and performer at the inaugural TEDx Kabul.