Three Women of Herat by Veronica Doubleday

Three Women of Herat by Veronica Doubleday

In 1973, the Afghans still had a King who ruled from a palace in Kabul with his own resident court of musicians when Veronica set up home in Herat. This Afghan city sat close to the Persian frontier and was fully cognizant of its glorious history as the capital of a once vast Central Asian Empire. Veronica was not a casual traveler but a young musician married to a scholar. She was determined to make use of her time in Afghanistan and break out of the charmed circle of the expatriate academic and make real friendships with local women. The tentative story, the growth in these very different friendships, takes the reader into a rare, deep, and privileged insight into the hidden world of Afghan female society. This is more than enough to make this book remarkable, but it has an afterlife of its own. For a Communist coup, then the Russian invasion, a long guerrilla war of Resistance is followed by Civil War and the rise of the Taliban. Veronica was separated from her friends: feared the worst, sought to assist but was also aware that contact from a westerner could be lethal to them. Then a fragile peace allowed her to meet them again and pick up their stories. It is a most exceptional work, which reads like a novel.

Veronica Doubleday is a respected ethno-musicologist. She first travelled to Herat with her husband, John Baily, during the main period of his research into traditional Afghan music. She continues to perform the songs she learned in Afghanistan and writes frequently on the country. Since this book was written, she has returned to Herat twice, in 1994 and 2004.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780601977
ISBN 10	1780601972
Title	Three Women of Herat
Author	Veronica Doubleday
Series	Eland Classics
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Eland Publishing Ltd
Year published	2022-03-25
Number of pages	280
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.