I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand Afghanistan from the point of view of its woman and not what the media portrays. Afghani women cannot be saved by Western feminism. They have to come up with their own feminism that respects the good parts of their culture and religion while rejecting the bad and evil and oppressive parts that hurt women and men. ( )

I gave this four stars because the author took me into the lives of these women in a way I did not expect. When I finished it and closed the book, I experienced an immediate, undeniably fierce and physical awareness of my own freedom, the freedom of my body and the freedom of my life, as a woman and as a human being.

I was also surprised to find myself forced into an inner dialogue about the meaning of gender and its politics, as I read this book.

A full understanding of the complexity of these women's lives will not come from one book. But Jenny Nordberg is passionate and convincing in her attempt, and I feel privileged to have been allowed to be there with her. I appreciate her feminist perspective and her understanding of the origins and real-life implications of patriarchal systems. This is a requirement if an honest look is to be taken.

Although I thought I "knew" how the women in Afghanistan live, reading this book was shocking to me, in the way it pulled me into their lives, as if into the very clothes they wear. Imagining myself veiled from head to toe, looking through a small mesh "window" over my eyes (making my chaperoned excursions outside almost dangerous from my literal lack of perspective and peripheral vision), imagining that my skin is a purely sexual covering, imagining myself peeking through the curtains of my prison/home to catch a glimpse of life outdoors, and imagining a lifetime of dim lighting in perpetually darkened rooms, this book gave me chills.

This book will be unforgettable to me. Thank you, Ms. Nordberg. ( )

An interesting insight into the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan, particularly those who become bacha posh. I was also struck by the similarities drawn to how women/girls in other cultures have also passed, or do pass, as male. However there is a lot of repetition and despite the fascinating subject-matter, I was not as enthused by my reading of this as I had expected. 3-and-a-bit stars. ( )

A compelling and shocking book that interrogates social constructs of gender identity and opens a new chronicle in Afghan history. Women's rights are human rights, and this should not be side-stepped or debated. Nordberg is a deft writer who brings individuals and her own experiences to life. ( )

An amazing, eye-opening look at an "unknown" Afghanistan. Nordberg uncovers what is behind a custom that has an unspoken understanding & magic that has been a Hidden Resistance not just in Afghanistan. ( )