Cindy DaviesCritiques

A predictable story of violence and romance set in the chaos of the Iranian Revolution.

Cindy Davis was born in the United Kingdom and then moved with her family to Australia. She has worked at various jobs, including two-years of teaching and acting as a tour guide in Turkey. Her long-term interest in the Middle East is revealed in the research she has done for this, her first novel.

Zahra is an Afghan woman, married to a very abusive husband. For some mysterious reason, her cousin, Firzun, involves her, her husband, and her son in an escape to Iran. After the death of her husband, Zahra distrusts Firzun. Is he a freedom fighter, a drug smuggler, or both? Unsure of her future, Zahra takes a job as a companion of an elderly woman, the grandmother of Karim, a dashing young man she had met briefly and fallen in love with in the past. But the path of love is never easy.

Davis keeps the plot moving and inserts some interesting aspects of her characters. For example, I was interested in how intensely guilty and humiliated Zahra was about the way her husband beat her. She seems to believe that his violence was her fault. That is an interesting observation about how some women react to abuse. But generally the characters in the book are not well-developed, and the plot hinges on the power of love at first sight rather than any other reasons for attraction. Overall this is a story of a helpless woman saved by a rich and handsome man.

This is not the kind of book that I usually read. Perhaps my impatience with it has more to do with the limitations of the genre rather than Davis’s writing.

within a beautiful setting the author captures all the suspense, sadness, tragic events and the love of two lost souls, even in the unlikeliest of times.

The Afghan Wife was a book that drew me in as I am very interested in learning about Middle Eastern women and the lives they live. I felt this book did a good job of describing the life of Zahra.
Many of the events she goes through makes me remember how blessed I am to live the life I do and how different it is for many women around the world.
I did feel the ending was too abrupt and too tidy of an ending. I am hoping there will be at least one follow up book to this one that will continue the story and maybe tell more information about others in the book at how they became different than the normal in Muslim society.

This book is marketed as a love story, but the love story is the weakest part of it. It is really not believable in any way that the two main characters who hardly know each other would want to get married and make a serious commitment just like that. The actions that the characters take are also not believable or consistent with what we know about them. Historically, the setting is an interesting one, and I enjoyed learning about it, but it really wasn't enough.

To say i loved it is an understatement.. mention karim anytime anywhere and i will melt anytime anywhere.

easy to read and hard to put down. i finished this book in 3 days.

A love story set in the iranian revolution of 1970s. With a political backdrop it takes you through the life of Zahra. Widowed with a 5 year old child, beautiful zahra is forced to flee her country afghanistan to Iran as a refugee, straight from one politically unrest country to another.

As destiny would have it she meets her childhood crush karim, an unbelievably wealthy architect belonging to one of the influential families of Iran.
Its because their diverse background and the disturbing changing political scenarios around them that true love blossoms between the protagonists.

The characters though fictional are inspired and based on true life accounts of a few irani and afghani students the author met during her teaching career. Even few incidents mentioned in the book had actually happened according to the author. she has gone as far as living in Iran while writing this book which proves why you are delusioned to believe its someone insider narrating the story.

An extensively researched book on the political upheavals of iran and afghanistan in 1970s and the impact on its people slowly depriving them of security, stability and freedom and i feel fortunate that i am not one of them.
Thank you Democracy.

Having said that there is no dearth of romance in the book, absolutely cute at times.
I swear Karim is one dream man every girl wants. perhaps the only thing that kept me going was the constant longing i had, to see them through till the end, as not just them even their loved ones lives are threatened amidst the unrest.

Strong meaningful plot coupled with an equally intense romantic love story. Its a 5 star read.

and my thoughts are already around the sequel because yes..i wantttt to see more of karim!! ..

what to watch out for?
zarha and karim's chemistry. both sizzling and decent !!

would i reread it?... yes in all likelihood i will !

“The Afghan Wife” is a well-written look into the lives of the Iranian people after the revolution that forced the shah into exile. Many people have forgotten, or were totally unaware, that prior to the 1970s Afghanistan and Iran were fairly Westernized nations. It wasn’t until the Revolution in the late 70s that the people became so suppressed.
This is a well written book describing the turmoil encountered in day-to-day life in the new Iran. The story revolves around star-crossed lovers Karim and Zahra as they are forced to adapt in the new political climate. There is something for everyone in this story - romance, politics, and intrigue.
I found myself having a strong emotional response to the story. I was hoping that somehow Karim and Zahra would find a way to be together, frustrated with the idealism of Firzun and Nasim, and saddened by deaths both natural and tragic.
This story serves a snapshot of the tumultuous events surrounding the hostage crisis at the American embassy in Tehran and its impact on the local people. It is a reminder of how so many people lost their freedom almost overnight. It is a reminder of what we take for granted.

Despite its title, most of this book is set in Tehran in the early days of the Iranian Revolution at the beginning of the American hostage situation. This provides an usual backdrop to the story and an opportunity to view these turbulent days from within.

Zahra is the Afghan Wife in question, married as the story opens to Mahmoud, a controlling afghan who beats her and makes life very challenging for Zahra and their young son. Zahra’s cousin, Firzun, is a university-educated revolutionary. After a failed terrorist attempt in Afghanistan, he pulls Zahra and Mahmoud into his plans to flee the country. A terrifying journey brings them to Tehran and into the wealthy lives of Firzun’s Iranian revolutionary friends where Zahra becomes embroiled in even more dangerous activities.

I very much enjoyed the chance to see these events from a different perspective. There was a real sense of danger and confusion in the escape from Afghanistan and the tension built steadily in Tehran with the streets patrolled by sinister government agencies and ill-disciplined trigger-happy gangs of young men. Zahra was very much an unwilling pawn in all that went on: rarely making a choice for herself. Her backstory explained how she had come to be in this situation and seemed credible. Her priority became her young son and her own survival.

There were some weaknesses in the book however, which leave me hovering between giving 3 or 4 stars overall. Alongside the historical elements of the story was a romance. Zahra had met Karim just once, ten years ago, and now meets him again. I found this aspect of the book to be shallow and formulaic - it read like an old Mills and Boon (Harlequin) romance. I had no problem with the romance being a part of the overall story, but for me it had no credibility in the way it was written.

That said, I notice that the book is described as ‘a love story set against the Iranian revolution’. Perhaps this book was meant to be a Mills and Boon style romance - one set in a very different location to most? If that is the case - if the book is intended for readers of such romances - then perhaps it succeeds more than I am giving it credit for. I didn’t appreciate that the emphasis was on the romance rather than on the historical context as I was reading the book. Though possibly, had I realised this beforehand I may not have chosen to read it at all which would have been a pity.

As it is, I am glad that I have read it. I enjoyed it even with its weaker parts, and I gained some insight into how it might have been to have lived through that situation. I believe that the author is working on a sequel. I would certainly read it - and this time I would understand beforehand what to expect!

A decent tale about an Afghan woman caught up in the maelstrom of the Iranian Revolution. It was interesting to read the novel from an non- American perspective. Iran was a turbulent place and the story highlights all the volatility. It also illustrates how helpless the main character, Zahra, was, having to rely on men to direct her path.

Zahra, her husband and young son, flee their home in Afghanistan with Zahra's revolutionary cousin Firzun. Along the way, Zahra's husband is killed in a fight with Firzun, and Firzun takes his identity. Once arriving in Iran, Zahra reunites with Karim, a man she has had a crush on since she was a teenager.

I struggled a bit with this book. It was well written and well paced, but I didn't really connect with Zahra. She felt a bit alien to me. I didn't understand why felt such loyalty to Firzun when he kept putting Zahra and her son in significant danger. Why didn't she just tell Karim the truth? I'm sure many will enjoy this book, I just couldn't connect with the characters.

I found this an interesting book. It started out slowly as a love story, a frustrating love story, with a great many changes and unknowns for the protagonist then switches to more of a political thriller before resolving in a satisfactory ending. It takes place mainly in Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution with the Hostage crisis as a backdrop. It is an unusual time and place with the play of Middle Eastern cultural, or rather various facets of the culture, the uncertainty of revolution, and the not too distant past. As the story took on more and more aspects of a political thriller, the pace and tension ramped up as the reader is left guessing what will happen next and who will be impacted how. All in all enjoyable.

Romantic and terrifying at the same time. I really connected with the main character. Zahra is only interested in safety for her and her son. She finds herself a chess piece being moved around by the decisions of others. Iran is an unstable country and Zahra just wants to find somewhere to live in safety. An old crush comes back in to play in her life making things even more complicated. I became so involved in the story I just kept reading all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Although the story is a bit far-fetched and unrealistic, I loved the settings. It felt as though I was really in Iran although I had never really visited this part of the world.The main character seems as a strong and wonderful person and I was sorry for everything she had to go through. I also liked the style of writing, wonderful descriptions and attention paid to some minor details.
I would recommend this book as a good and easy read to all those who believe in love, destiny and better world.

Ostensibly this a story of conflict, revolution, marital abuse and eventual refuge but sadly intertwined with these points is an odd almost Mills and Boon romance. For me it was a trial to read to the end simply because I desperately kept hoping against hope that the silly purple prose of the romance would not reappear but my hopes were regularly dashed. Outside of that despite the fact that a large, the largest portion of the action takes place in Teheran just after the Shah has been toppled we are given no insight into why and are expected instead to sympathise with cadre of people who had been ridiculously privileged under the shah and who eventually flee to America. There is also an incredibly unsympathetic revolutionary who is somehow a friend of the privileged and who lives in their opulent hoses while trying to foment a counter revolution. I ended this book knowing no more than when I started it and feeling cheated.

Zahra is a teacher in Afghanistan, married to Mahmoud, who controlled her life. Her cousin Firzun is a revolutionary. After a failed bomb at the Russian Embassy he needs to get out of Afghanistan quickly and he takes Zhara, Mahmoud and their son with him.

Mahmoud meets a sticky end on their escape, but Firzun claims his identity, making Zhara trapped in another way. They arrive in Tehran and it soon becomes clear that Firzun is to continue his revolutionary ways there. He meets up with old friends, who in turn get Zhara a safe home and work, where she encounters Karim, who she had first met ten years ago, and felt an immediate attraction to.

The story plays out the struggle political struggle in Tehran and Zhara's personal struggle with what Firzun asks of her and Karim offers her.

I found this story really confusing and felt that I didn't really care for the characters, and therefore what happened in the story. There were too many threads going on - but at least it had a proper ending!

Excellent story and writing--just a few edit errors did not detract. This well-told tale of an upper middle class woman set in Afghanistan and Iran just before and during the seizure of hostages in Iran during the Carter administration. It was fascinating to read of the event from their perspective. After being orphaned, next-of-kin forced the woman to marry a typical brute and live in poverty well below her childhood years where she'd been accustomed to better conditions. Apparently her husband and her cousin were active in the Afghan resistance to Communists taking over, and fearing reprisals for their activities, they all flee to Iran which is equally beset with Islamist takeovers. Wow! A gripping series of events and ramifications. I've met many Iranians who immigrated to the US during the fall of the Shah years, and this book sure helps one understand why they left their "beloved" country.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Afghan Wife. I have not read a whole lot of books that take place in the Middle East and this book made me feel like I was right in the middle of Iran. I was on the edge of my seat through half of it worried about what would happen to several of the characters. I remember the news stories of the American hostage situation and this story while fictional helped flush out what might have been going on in and around the event. I highly recommend this book if you want to get a feel for some of the lives of the Iranian citizens living during that time period.½

Zahra is forced to flee from Afghanistan to Iran with her 5 year old and husband son when her cousin’s activities against the communists don’t go as planned. Along the way her husband dies and once in Iran her cousin takes up in the resistance against the government and pretends to be her husband to avoid being arrested.
I very much enjoyed this book. The characters are interesting and multidimensional, and the plot keeps you wanting more. I would recommend it to anyone.½