The Story of My Life by Farah Ahmedi

Cinderella lived in Quetta where she and her mother ran away to find help and family. It was the beginning of the long road to freedom.

“. . . a haunting and mesmerizing tale born in the heart of a courageous young girl . . .”

“Farah and her mother were set adrift to fend for themselves until an angel showed them the way.”

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan to a famous family of ancient traditions and deeply planted roots, Farah Ahmedi got her first taste of education and wanted the world.

She got it.

Late for school one morning, Farah took a shortcut through a field. In a flash of lightning and an ear-splitting boom, her life was changed forever, cutting her off from her small, familiar home and sending her out into a world different than anything she knew existed. She had taken the first steps on an odyssey that would force her to journey into danger and greed.

Once in America, unfamiliar sights and sounds besiege Farah and her mother, and Farah recounts how alone she felt as her mother retreated farther and farther into herself and away from her new world. Although World Relief helped them escape Pakistan, Farah and her mother were set adrift to fend for themselves until an angel showed them the way.

Farah Ahmedi”s story is the story of Cinderella, Aladdin and Sinbad. Immersed in an ancient world she speaks honestly and simply of the fear, wonder, and alienation she feels as she is forced to adapt over and over to horrific changes. With a strong voice, Farah tells of the good, the bad, and the ugly that she encounters. Obliged to become her mother”s guardian and navigate the roads from her family compound in Kabul through war, death, danger, and slavery, Farah”s eyes are set on the promise of a future in America. The Story of My Life is a haunting and mesmerizing tale born in the heart of a courageous young girl who has climbed mountains, faced death and destruction, and found freedom.

Reviewer: J. M. Cornwell