The Secret Sky

Starred review from June 30, 2014
Three characters take turns narrating foreign correspondent Abawi’s debut, about a cross-cultural love affair that tears at a small Afghan community. Pashtun landowners and Hazara farmers maintain a respectful peace—their children play together, but a “Hazara girl could never marry a Pashtun boy.” Fatima dreams of a future in Kabul, where girls “can become doctors, lawyers, midwives and even artists!” After Samiullah returns home, disillusioned with teachers’ cruel indoctrination at his madrassa, his childhood friendship with Fatima blossoms into love. Meanwhile, Samiullah’s cousin Rashid seeks to gain favor with the local Taliban by reporting their attachment, resulting in horrific consequences for both families. Decades of tribal strife influence the present, causing some to cling to tradition, while others encourage change, like a grandmother teaching her granddaughter to read. Disturbing depictions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against women, men, and children, both within families and between different groups, contrast with extravagant acts of courage, kindness, and sacrifice. Throughout, Fatima, Samiullah, and Rashid wrestle with what constitutes faithful living, as represented by two mullahs offering wildly different interpretations. A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story. Ages 14–up.

Narrators Ariana Delawari and Assaf Cohen fully inhabit the vulnerability and uncertainty of present-day Afghanistan teenagers Fatima and Sami as they slowly fall into a love forbidden by both family and society. Delawari and Cohen dramatize both characters' internal monologues as they process their feelings of love and fear. Cohen also voices Sami's cousin, Rashid, a product of radical Islamic indoctrination who believes that the runaway lovers must be punished. Cohen deftly distinguishes between candid Sami and Rashid, who is fueled by rage and obsession that he has come to see as truth. When narrating the novel's most horrific scenes, the narrators never overplay the tragedy but commit fully to the heartbreaking lines of dialogue, forcing listeners to engage with the important and difficult subject matter. E.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine