In the middle of the Afghanistan conflict, a little coffee shop in Kabul stands as a testament to the determination to continue life as normal. Five women, wholly different and unconnected, come together and create ripples in the city.
Sunny, the cafe owner, is an American working in Kabul while her boyfriend is away. Yazmina is a young widow who got taken to the city to pay off a debt, and whom Sunny takes into her protection. Candace is a wealthy American woman who comes to Afghanistan to help her younger lover. Isabel is a British journalist searching for the story of her life. Halajan owns the building where the cafe is situated, and she is carrying a years-long secret of her own.
Religious and secular values collide in this story - the cafe serves as a microcosm for the many clashes of values facing Afghanistan during the conflict.
The author's rich experiences of living in Kabul shine through the story. Images of the city pour through every sentence, and despite the encroaching conflict it seems like a dynamic place to live. The heroism and courage of not only the primary characters but the host of unnamed secondary characters who carry on life as normal serves as a dramatic undercurrent - although the people are just trying to live their lives, it's always with the knowledge that a bomb could explode at any moment.
The strong bonds that these women form was one of my favourite parts of the novel. The way they look after each other, keep each other's secrets and support each other's projects and journeys show the importance of deep and meaningful relationships, particularly in such a fractious atmosphere where life can be counted in seconds and minutes.
It's definitely a book to set aside a good few hours to read in good chunks at a time, and I'll definitely be following up with the sequels soon.
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