An American Bride in Kabul cover art

An American Bride in Kabul

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

An American Bride in Kabul

By: Phyllis Chesler PhD
Narrated by: Janet Metzger
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.99

Buy Now for $24.99

About this listen

Few westerners will ever be able to understand Muslim or Afghan society unless they are part of a Muslim family. Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century.

In 1961, when she arrived in Kabul with her Afghan bridegroom, authorities took away her American passport. Chesler was now the property of her husband's family and had no rights of citizenship. Back in Afghanistan, her husband, a wealthy, westernized foreign college student with dreams of reforming his country, reverted to traditional and tribal customs. Chesler found herself unexpectedly trapped in a posh polygamous family, with no chance of escape. She fought against her seclusion and lack of freedom, her Afghan family's attempts to convert her from Judaism to Islam, and her husband's wish to permanently tie her to the country through childbirth.

Drawing upon her personal diaries, Chesler recounts her ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid - and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture. Chesler nearly died there, but she managed to get out, returned to her studies in America and became an author and an ardent activist for women's rights throughout the world.

©2013 Phyllis Chesler (P)2019 Tantor
Gender Studies Social Sciences Middle East Marriage Afghanistan Women
All stars
Most relevant
An amazing insight into the lives of women in Afghanistan, even though it is from a foreigners perspective and delves fairly back in time. I was looking for a way to gain insight into what being a woman in Afghanistan may look like, and while the story in this book happened far before the 2021 Taliban takeover, it still provides a very good idea. The narration is professional and easy to understand (not too robotic, but also not too overly enthusiastic) and the story is compelling. About to listen to it for the second time now.

Great story, good narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.