"Suspenseful...emotionally compelling. I found myself eagerly
following in a way I hadn't remembered for a long time, impatient for
the next twist and turn of the story."--NPR
An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her
family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and
compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke
Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low.
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a
privileged life in Afghanistan's thriving cosmopolitan capital. The
1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people
like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan's progressive president, and Sitara's
beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara's world
is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president
and Sitara's entire family. Only she survives.
Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way
to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her
in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name--Aryana
Shepherd--and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a
renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing
instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured.
New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana's
world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination
room--a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier
who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him
awakens Aryana's fury and desire for answers--and, perhaps, revenge.
Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana
embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul--a battleground between
the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban--and through
shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost.
Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a
story of home--of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival,
reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi's singular voice.
