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Born Under a Million Shadows

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Born Under a Million Shadows

By: Andrea Busfield
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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About this listen

 The Taliban have disappeared from Kabul's streets, but the long shadows of their brutal regime remain....

In his short life, 11-year-old Fawad has known more grief than most: his father and brother have been killed; his sister has been abducted; and Fawad and his mother, Mariya, must rely on the charity of family to eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. But despite their struggles, Fawad's love of life never fades.

Then Mariya finds a position as housekeeper for a charismatic Western woman, Georgie, whom Fawad discovers is caught up in a dangerous love affair with the infamous Afghan warlord Haji Khan.

©2009 Andrea Busfield (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

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All stars
Most relevant
Lovely well written book. It gives a very different view to Afghanistan which is very refreshing

Great read

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I enjoyed this story. It was narrated well and the characters came to life because of the narration. The story had it's fair share of tragedy and atrocities, well it was set in Afghanistan, so that was to be expected! But there was also a softness to the story there was love, friendship, loyalty, humour and at the heart of it all was a little boy called Fayad. He's truly the star.

A lovely story

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I listened to the unabridged audio version of this book during a recent long journey and the miles flew by. The author has hit just that perfect balance between putting across a serious message and making a book entertaining. For a book set in Afghanistan it has some wonderfully humorous momnents too.

Fawad is an 11yr old boy, living with his mother in an aunt's house. His father and two brothers are dead and no-one knows what has become of his sister since she was abducted by the Taliban. They have barely enough money to feed and clothe themselves, with nothing remaining to pay rent. Fawad runs with the local children, begging and stealing money from unsuspecting foreigners.
Their luck changes dramatically when his mother gets work as housemaid to a group of foreigners who share a house. She does all their cleaning and cooking and Fawad is allowed to live there with them. Georgie, James and May are wonderful characters and the interactions are great fun.
Fawad gets work in a local grocery store run by a blind man who is a constant source of insights into life and interactions between people; he has an opinion on everything.
As time passes over a period of about 18 months, there are both happy and sad moments but the book is ultimately uplifting.

The audiobook was beautifully read by Mark Meadows, bringing all the characters to life and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in global literature.

Wonderfully balanced book.

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After reading the reviews written here, I felt I needed to add how much I enjoyed this book. It is a fantastic story of Fawad,a young boy's world in post Blair/Bushes Afganastan. After I read the story I serched Andrea Busfield Biography and she has indeed lived and worked in Afganastan as journelist so must know a great deal about the country. I don't think I can recomend this this book highly enough. It is pure joy, well read by Mark Medows

Laugh out load; sad and romantc

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What made the experience of listening to Born Under a Million Shadows the most enjoyable?

The storyline, the characters and the way the story was set.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Fawad, main character.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really but the book itself is amazingly set, it has inspired me t start reading more, experimenting with various books.
The author has a great storyline which keeps you the edge, wanting more.

Bla

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