The Sewing Circles of Herat

The Sewing Circles of Herat chronicles journalist Christina Lamb's experiences in Afghanistan across multiple decades, from the Soviet occupation through the Taliban era. Her reporting began in the 1980s when she traveled with mujahideen fighters, and she returned after 9/11 to document the country's transformation. The narrative centers on a secret network of women in Herat who gathered under the guise of sewing circles during Taliban rule, using these meetings to teach literature and maintain their intellectual lives. Lamb interweaves their stories with accounts of Afghanistan's poets, scholars, and ordinary citizens who preserved their culture despite oppression. Through firsthand observations and interviews, Lamb documents the physical and social changes in Afghan cities, particularly Kabul and Herat, while recording oral histories from residents. She traces the impact of successive regimes and conflicts on Afghan society, education, and daily life. The book stands as both a work of war correspondence and cultural history, examining how people maintain their humanity and traditions in the face of extreme circumstances. Its central focus on the hidden networks of resistance adds to our understanding of how societies survive under authoritarian control.

Readers appreciate Lamb's personal storytelling and firsthand accounts from Afghanistan, particularly her interviews with women who ran secret schools during Taliban rule. Many note the book provides context about Afghanistan beyond just post-9/11 coverage. Readers highlight Lamb's descriptions of daily life and culture, with one calling it "intimate journalism that puts faces to the statistics." Multiple reviews praise her focus on individual stories rather than just political events. Common criticisms include the non-linear structure making the narrative hard to follow. Some readers note the book feels disjointed as it jumps between time periods. A few mention the writing can be dry in historical sections. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (648 ratings) Amazon: 4.4/5 (67 ratings) Several readers suggest this as a companion to Khaled Hosseini's novels for understanding Afghan society, with one Amazon reviewer noting it "fills in the real-world context behind The Kite Runner."

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🧵 Christina Lamb wrote this book after spending years reporting from Afghanistan, including being smuggled into the country disguised in a burqa during the Taliban regime 🕌 The "sewing circles" in the title refers to secret literary gatherings where women would hide books under their burqas and pretend to be sewing while actually discussing literature and poetry 📚 The author discovered that during Taliban rule, some teachers maintained underground schools in their homes, using nail polish as ink when regular writing materials were scarce 🗣️ The book reveals how Afghanistan was once a cultural center where movies were made, women attended university, and poets gathered in Herat's famous mushairas (poetry recitals) 🎬 Lamb met a former filmmaker who buried all his movies in his garden to protect them from the Taliban, who had banned all forms of visual entertainment and burned many films