The Lone Leopard

PRAISE FOR 'THE LONE LEOPARD'
a powerful book that tells a story I will never forget...an emotional roller coaster...an eye-opener...that has the potential to become a classic over time. —The Rest Journal of Politics and Development

a heart-wrenching, yet hopeful story of family, friendship and love set against the nationalistic and religious conflicts of Afghanistan's last four decades…an extremely good read —Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support

a generous, sensitive, well-researched novel which offers an informative perspective on Afghanistan’s past...and...future. —US Studies Online

an interesting, suspenseful, and impactful story that…gradually rises in intensity and drama—The Strategy Bridge

Libraries looking for literary fiction that can reach an exceptionally wide audience will find The Lone Leopard hard-hitting, attractive, and educational, all in one. Ideally, it also will reach into book club discussions —Midwest Book Review

a must read—Keith Shortley

thought-provoking and engaging —Review Tales

fascinating —Andrea Jones, BRASS

an absorbing...sensitive, heartbreaking, and bold…story...It touches your heart—Review Vue

heartbreaking, and engaging... a must-read historical fiction Middle Eastern and contemporary romance drama novel. —Author Anthony Avina’s Blog

An eye-opening story that saturates the mind and heart on many different levels. —Donovan's Literary Services

a story of…young lives, teenage angst, human affinity and grief. —USSO

an eye-opener…absorbing…and revealing...I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to 'enter' Afghanistan mentally and emotionally. —Jane Marriott, BRASS

an ideal choice for university/college courses on... South Asia and...the Greater Middle East. —CESRAN

SYNOPSIS
15-year-old Ahmad finds it hard to live by tradition among Russians and ‘Communist Afghans’ in the liberal Makroryan, known as the ‘Little Moscow of Kabul’. It becomes harder with the arrival in the neighbourhood of the 16-year-old and fervently pro-women’s rights Frishta. Naturally, their conflicting outlooks on tradition clash. Frishta calls Ahmad backward and, worse, a shameful coward, and Ahmad accuses Frishta of being a foreign agent and, worse, a ‘bad woman’ who has picked a war with half of the population and their way of life.
It is 1990s Afghanistan, where a man is stripped of character if he is proved a coward, and where a woman is merely seen as valuable goods, and even a perception of unchastity will lose her all her worth. By the time Ahmad and Frishta really get to know each other, it is too late as they have seriously harmed each other, and their lives will never be the same. The mujahedeen run over Kabul, and the civil war begins, compelling Ahmad to flee to Russia and then to England.
But Ahmad does not realise that one day he will be forced to return to the homeland where his past catches up with him and puts him in a situation in which he has to choose to either live like a coward, by betraying a once-loyal friend, or die with courage.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SHARIFULLAH DORANI was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, and claimed asylum in the UK in 1999. He completed his PhD on the US War in Afghanistan at Durham University and authored the acclaimed America in Afghanistan. Sharifullah frequently returns to Afghanistan to carry out research and is currently South Asia and the Middle Eastern Editor at CESRAN International.