Showing A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan by Nelofer Pazira

This is a true story that begins in Afghanistan in the mid seventies. It follows the members of an upper middle class family as they struggle to survive in their homeland; survive, despite a series of ever increasingly ruthless dictators, the Russian invasion and finally the Taliban. This book is beautifully written and easy to read; it has a wonderful descriptive quality to it that has the ability to provoke strong emotions. The book was hard to put down; I found myself wanting to read "just on more page, one more chapter". This story has an universal theme; it could be viewed as a testament to all common, oppressed people anywhere; people who'd like nothing more than to live in peace, but are prevented from doing so (through no fault of their own), because they get caught up in events caused by the ever changing whims of the "dictator de jour." Highly recommended. 5 Stars.