A Fort of Nine Towers

To read this book is to understand Afghanistan as it exists today. This haunting memoir traces the unimaginable odyssey of one family whose world has collapsed. But it is also a chilling ground-zero chronicle of the beleaguered nation's darkest hours of the last three decades. Poetic, powerful, and unforgettable.Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

'If you read only one book this summer, make it this one.' Jeanette Winterson, O Magazine

'Omar's beautifully written book is an affecting account of survival in the midst of brutality and fear, and a testament to the importance of family and friendships in a place where neighbours turned on neighbours.' Sunday Times

'Qais Akbar Omar's memoir sets out . . . to show us the ordinary Afghanistan as well as the horror . . . Yet for all the horrors he has seen and the loved ones he has lost, there is no desire for vengeance in this account, only a profound stoicism.' The Times