Dancing in the Mosque : An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son by Homeira Qaderi

An exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother?_Ts unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. How far would you go to protect yourself? Your dignity? Your family? In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions.A?With the city and the military on edge,A?it was not uncommon forA?an armed soldierA?toA?point his gun at the pregnant woman?_Ts bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son?_Ts birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life. No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, at the age of thirteen, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women?_Ts rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society. Devastating in its power,A?Dancing in the MosqueA?is a mother?_Ts searing letter to the son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story ?_" and that of Afghan women ?_" Homeira challenges us to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival.
Binding: Paperback / softback