Hannah Lucinda Smith – författare

A moving and inspiring memoir by Afghanistan''s youngest female mayor and campaigner for human rights, as seen in Netflix''s In Her Hands documentary.''Zarifa will break your heart'' Christina Lamb, author of Our Bodies, Their Battlefields and I Am Malala''Incredible'' Stylist''In this earnest and fiery memoir, an activist and politician from Afghanistan recounts how her country''s instability marked her life'' New York TimesZarifa Ghafari was two years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools. She was seven when the American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became the youngest and one of the first female mayors in Maidan Shahr, Afghanistan. An extremist mob barred her from her office and assassins tried to kill her six times. Through it all, Zarifa promoted peace and tried to lift up women, despite constant fear for herself and her family.Written with honesty, pain and, ultimately, hope, Zarifa is an astonishing memoir that offers an unparalleled perspective of the last two decades in Afghanistan from a citizen, daughter, woman and mayor.''Zarifa''s words, like her life, are an act of courage, weaving heartache with hope'' Shubhangi Swarup, author of Latitudes of Longing''This gripping book can be read at one go and surely is a must buy'' Telegraph (India)''Frank and impassioned, Ghafari''s narrative spotlights the power of activism... a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience'' Publishers Weekly

Hannah Lucinda Smith, a Pulitzer grantee and acclaimed foreign correspondent, has devoted well over a decade to intrepid, on-the-ground reporting where few dare travel: the small, often disputed territories at the edges of Europe and Russia. There, Smith finds, the influence of Vladimir Putin and his favored strongmen-along with Turkish president and regional lynchpin Recep Tayyip Erdogan-fan territorial disputes and destabilize already fragile democracies.Hinterlands offers a rare glimpse into the ghost towns of Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, the cryptocurrency farms of Transnistria, the brittle border communities of Bosnia and its Republika Srpska, and the enclaves of Northern Cyprus that Russian oligarchs call home. In rarely seen places in Crimea and the Caucasus, frontiers have shifted and new countries have been made. Informed by her encounters with politicians, combatants, and the ordinary people caught in the crosshairs, Smith paints a vivid portrait of the places where geopolitical alliances are forged and broken, where the violent ambitions of dictators are most keenly felt.This indispensable account of events in the gray zones of Eurasia gives vital context to our rapidly changing world and sounds a clear-eyed, urgent warning: We ignore the hinterlands at our own peril. What happens inside them has the power to redraw the fault lines of a new Cold War and shape the future of the West.

Lannistumaton naisten oikeuksien puolustaja

Zarifa Ghafarin tarina kertoo afgaaninaisen rohkeasta taistelusta, jota hän on käynyt henkensä kaupalla ihmisoikeuksien puolesta ääri-islamisteja vastaan.

Zarifa Ghafarista tuli pormestari konservatiiviseen Wardakin maakuntaan Afganistaniin vuonna 2018. Hän oli 24-vuotiaana maan nuorin pormestari ja ensimmäinen nainen kyseisessä tehtävässä. Ensimmäinen päivä uudessa virassa ei ollut helppo: kaupungintalon edessä häntä oli vastassa vihainen ihmisjoukko, ja hänen päästyään sisään miespuoliset kollegat marssivat ulos.

Ghafari ei kuitenkaan luovuttanut, ei vaikka hänet yritettiin tappaa kolmesti. Hän lopetti maakunnassa vallinneen korruption ja yritti nostaa naisten asemaa huolimatta kaikesta uhkailusta, joka lopulta johti hänen isänsä murhaan. Mutta kun talibanit nousivat uudelleen valtaan vuonna 2021, Ghafari tiesi olevansa heidän mustalla listallaan, ja hänen oli paettava.

Zarifa on ainutlaatuinen ja rehellinen muistelmateos, joka luo kokonaiskuvaa Afganistanin kahdesta viimeisestä vuosikymmenestä. Ghafari kertoo tekemästään työstä ja naisista, joita hän edelleen yrittää auttaa Talibanien hallitsemassa maassa, ja omasta visiostaan siitä, kuinka ruohonjuuritason aktivismi voi muuttaa naisten elämää kaikkialla maailmassa.