Afsana Press

This is the fictionalized story of a genocide as told by some who lived it - as victims, perpetrators, or witnesses. The story is based on the author's testimonial and documentary research for Human Rights Watch in northern Iraq in 1992-1994 and thereafter. He has remained in regular contact with the two survivors and their families to this day. In particular, it's the story of two young men who were dragged to Saddam Hussein's killing grounds and, separately, managed to escape. Eventually they found their way to America - to live the protected but split-soul lives typical of first-generation immigrants. It's a story of luck, pluck, and perseverance, and many setbacks along the way.

A group of women prisoners who risk everything to expose a network of abuse and corruption that reaches the highest levels of power in Afghanistan. Inside Kabul''s most notorious women''s prison, Badam Bagh, silence is survival. But beneath the almond trees, where the women gather in rare moments of respite, secrets grow. Most of the women are convicted with heavy sentence, including live and death. When Niloofar, a young inmate, sets herself on fire in an act of desperate defiance, Sultan, the prison''s bully, convinces the most erudite inmate Setara - the only woman revered by Sultan - to help her find out the reasons. They unravel a horrifying web of political corruption, sex abuse, and cover-ups, but realise that the truth is more dangerous than they ever imagined. The guards are watching too closely. The powerful men beyond these walls have ensured that women like them never speak. They must make a choice: stay silent and survive, or expose the truth before they vanish like the others.