For a novelist, it's kind of an onerous burden to represent an entire culture.

You can not stop you from being who you are.

Zindagi migzara (life goes on)

I did see [in Afghanistan] plenty that reminded me of my childhood. I recognised my old neighbourhood, saw my old school, streets where I had played with my brother and cousins.

I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty

There isn't, even now, a great tradition of novel-writing in Afghanistan. Most of the literature is in the form of poetry.

No one has to know. No one would. It would be her secret, one she would share with the mountains only. The question is whether it is a secret she can live with, and Parwana thinks she knows the answer. She has lived with secrets all her life.