rabck from book_drunkard; Because the book was narrated by a pre-teen boy, it wasn't nearly as dire as it could have been. Fawad lives with his widowed mother, who gets a job as a housekeeper for Georgia and her two foreign friends. Mom and Fawad now live in this lovely compound, but he's still out on "chicken street" almost every day hustling to make money off the "foreigners", with the battles and the Taliban far away, at least for a time. ( )

Bajo un millón de sombras es la historia de un niño de diez años en el Kabul posterior al gobierno de los talibanes. Para Fawad y sus amigos la liberación de Afganistán no significa más que algunos dólares fáciles de conseguir mientras miles de extranjeros llegan a la ciudad con promesas de reconstrucción, de seguridad y de un futuro mejor. Cuando su madre consigue un trabajo de interna en la cada de Georgia, una inglesa colaboradora de una ONG, Fawad descubrirá una nueva versión de la cultura occidental. Viviendo con Georgia, James y May, Fawad se verá inmerso en un mundo desconocido y divertido, lleno de secretos, historias de amor y nuevas constumbres. Pero a medida que vaya perdiendo la inocencia, su genuino optimismo deberá enfrentarse a los desafíos de un país sumido en el caos y en la lucha por encontrar la paz.

I loved this novel. The cover and title caught my attention, and I have been interested in novels set in the middle east for a while now. I am immensely glad I picked this up at the bookstore. Fawad is all you could ever hope for in a narrator. He is a very funny character, intelligent and observant. He is kind and interested in the people around him. And I fell in love with him in the first six pages.

Fawad's mother tells him he was born under a million shadows (the Taliban). His father and brother were killed in a raid, his sister was abducted (that same night) and he and his mother were forced to live with his aunt - not a particularly pleasant woman. They are poor and Fawad and his friends run around begging, stealing and working odd jobs after school. His mother finds work doing the cooking, cleaning etc. for three foreigners and she and Fawad head off to live with them. Fawad loves spying on them and the three of them befriend Fawad and his mother and welcome them almost as family.

Georgie, is a british woman in love with and afghani man. Fawad develops a great friendship (and bit of a crush) with her.


May, is an american lesbian who Fawad is afraid will never find a husband and will go to hell. (His conversations with her are very entertaining)


and finally, James, an american journalist who can barley speak any Dari whatsoever. He is a bit of a womanizer and a drunk and every interaction with him and Fawad is hilarious.


The novel spans about a year and I enjoyed every minute of it. The author is fantastic, she really draws you in, knows how to set the pacing, uses descriptive and beautiful imagery, and creates full, complex and interesting characters that the reader comes to love. I feel like I should mention, while this novel takes place in a country during a war, and war is apart of it, the story isn't really about war. Its about these characters and Afghanistan kind of sometimes feels like a character in itself. It sounds beautiful. I have a feeling I will end up reading my copy over and over. Its really a great story about a fantastic young boy. ( )

story has a hopeful, positive tone ( )

Young Fawad and his mother Mariya are all that are left of their family as both they and Afganistan recover from Taliban rule. When Mariya is offered a housekeeping position, they both move in with a motley "family" of westerners in Kabul: sweet Georgie, a British woman whose Afghan occupation is "combing goats"; James, a journalist fond of drink and women; and May, an American engineer. When he isn't in school or running errands for the neighborhood shopkeeper, Fawad spends his free time observing, studying these three new friends. Attempting to reconcile their unfamiliar habits and philosophies with his own world is not easy, but his life has certainly become more interesting!

At once a charming and heartbreaking, but also hopeful, story. By the middle of the book, Fawad and his mother felt like treasured friends to this reader. As other reviewers have mentioned, the ending is a bit pat and not a little disturbing. ( )