The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif

Book excerpt: This moving and poignant work gives the reader a rare insight into the contented ‘milk and honey’ life of a simple Afghan family before the civil war ripped their country apart. The lives and centuries-old livelihood of farmers, craftsmen and small business owners were destroyed in just weeks and months. As a member of the Hazara tribe, hated and targeted by the Taliban, Najaf was forced to flee the brutal attacks on his people when the Northern Alliance fell to the advancing Taliban insurgents. His flight to Pakistan, from there to Indonesia, then by boat to Australia, ends with incarceration in Woomera, where the story begins. From the compelling opening sentence to the beautiful final chapter, Najaf’s integrity, his extraordinary optimism and his generosity of spirit will win the hearts and minds of all readers.