Zarifa
A Woman's Battle in a Man's World
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A poignant memoir by one of Afghanistan's youngest female mayors and the inspiration behind the upcoming Netflix documentary, In Her Hands, executive produced by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.
Zarifa Ghafari was three years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools, and she began her education in secret. She was six when American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became mayor – one of the first female mayors in the country – and first of Wardak, one of the most conservative provinces in Afghanistan. An extremist mob barred her from her office; her male staff walked out in protest; assassins tried to kill her three times. Through it all, Zarifa stood her ground. She ended corruption in the municipality, promoted peace, and tried to lift up women, despite constant fear for herself and her family. When the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, Ghafari had to flee. But even that couldn’t stop her. Six months later, she returned, to continue her work empowering women.
Zarifa is an astonishing memoir that offers an unparalleled perspective of the last two decades in Afghanistan from a citizen, daughter, woman and mayor. Written with honesty, pain, and ultimately, hope, Zarifa describes the work she did, the women she still tries to help as they live under Taliban rule, and her vision for how grassroots activism can change their lives and the lives of women everywhere.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It takes a special person to stand up for what’s right, even if it means risking their life. Zarifa Ghafari’s inspiring memoir recounts her experiences in her war-ravaged homeland, Afghanistan, where she fought against brutally patriarchal social and political forces. When she was just 24, Ghafari was appointed mayor of the heavily conservative Muslim province of Wardak. She faced near-constant death threats and assassination attempts, including one that killed her father. Nevertheless, she persisted. The human rights atrocities and personal violence Ghafari details can be stomach churning, but she does a good job putting the cruelty in context, explaining why the extremists in Afghanistan appeal to so many. As intense as a political thriller, Zarifa is a striking real-life portrait of courage.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Afghanistan's youngest female mayor details her odds-defying ascent in this inspirational memoir. Ghafari notes how "trauma has been passed down with my DNA," with her maternal grandfather having been killed by a mujahideen militia, and, more recently, her father murdered by the Taliban. After attending Panjab University in India, 26-year-old Ghafari was elected mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital of a central Afghanistan province, and she details how she brought change to the city during her three-year tenure that ended in June 2021. Having campaigned on the idea that "cities have to be governed from the bottom up," she developed green spaces for city residents, and her administration funded the building of a waste and recycling facility to combat the city's sewage problems. She also fired officials who had been taking bribes and survived multiple assassination attempts, but after the Taliban overtook Kabul in August 2021, she fled the country. Frank ("Surviving a terror attack—even two—did not make me special") and impassioned ("I will keep reminding women that they have a voice, and can raise it"), Ghafari's narrative spotlights the power of activism. This is a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience.
