Literary fiction is kept alive by women. Women read more fiction, period.

Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything

Zindagi migzara (life goes on)

But time, it is like charm. You never have as much as you think.

I returned to Afghanistan because I had a deep longing to see for myself how people lived, what they thought of their government, how optimistic they were about the future of their homeland.

Whether you do something or decide to do nothing, either way, you are making a moral choice. And I hope people make the right one.

She thought of Aziza's stutter, and of what Aziza had said earlier about fractures and powerful collisions deep down and how sometimes all we see on the surface is a slight tremor.