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When the Moon Is Low

A Novel

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When the Moon Is Low

By: Nadia Hashimi
Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Neil Shah
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About this listen

The unforgettable story of an Afghan family’s escape from the Taliban and perilous trek across Europe to seek asylum, led by one extraordinarily courageous woman. This is the second novel by Nadia Hashimi, the author of last year’s breakout The Pearl That Broke Its Shell.

Mahmoud’s passion for his wife, Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she’s ever known. But their happy, middle-class world - a life of education, work, and comfort - implodes when their country is engulfed in war and the Taliban rises to power.

Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: She must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister’s family in England. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness. Exhausted and brokenhearted but undefeated, Fereiba manages to smuggle them as far as Greece. But in a busy market square, their fate takes a frightening turn when her teenage son, Saleem, becomes separated from the rest of the family.

Faced with an impossible choice, Fereiba pushes on with her daughter and baby, while Saleem falls into the shadowy underground network of undocumented Afghans who haunt the streets of Europe’s capitals. Across the continent Fereiba and Saleem struggle to reunite and ultimately find a place where they can begin to reconstruct their lives.

©2015 Nadia Hashimi (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers
Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense World Literature Fiction Scary Middle East
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It was beautifully read that it took me right into the 2 main characters.
I have not been able to stop thinking about when it felt to end so abruptly. Having heard it on audio I actually bought the book on my kindle just to make sure I hadn’t somehow mucked up the audio.

The Anguish visa vee Hope

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Loved it. a compelling read with great insight into the life of a struggling Afghan family's survival and escape.

a great read

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Loved the story from start to finish. Well written and narrators did a great job.

Loved it

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