Christina Lamb does an excellent job explaining the history of Afghanistan while giving the readers a chance to understand the beauty of the country and its people. Imagine a time when women cannot wear lipstick, go out in public, wear white shoes or shoes that click. Women cannot laugh out loud or be seen from the window not even their silhouette. A time when not even parks can be named for women, when no music is allowed and the only entertainment is public amputations and executions. This according to Ms. Lamb is life under Taliban rule.
In Herat, once the centre of Persian culture ruled by a powerful queen, the oppression of culture and women is the worst. It was in the city of Herat that Christina Lamb came across the Golden Needle Ladies Sewing Circle. This group of heroic women was teaching something the Taliban approved of, sewing. But in between stitches the ladies are teaching something very much forbidden; they are teaching literature to the women of Afghanistan.
