The Finest Hotel in Kabul

An incredible book – vivid and beautifully written, it captures the soul of Afghanistan through an age of hopes and heartbreak, as well as one of constant change. A tender, wise and quietly devastating book. * PETER FRANKOPAN, author of THE SILK ROADS * A story of a country and a people, told with knowledge, insight and tenderness. I’ve been waiting for a Lyse Doucet book for a long time and what she has produced here is testament to her humanity as well as her journalistic eye. * MISHAL HUSSEIN, Sunday Times bestselling author of BROKEN THREADS * The Finest Hotel in Kabul offers an unflinching and intimate portrait of contemporary Afghanistan, from the hopeful days following the fall of the Taliban’s first regime to the chilling return of fear under their second rule. At the heart of the story is a woman who prepares food with her hands, yet in doing so, is quietly shaping the future. As the Taliban return, laughter fades, and like thousands of other women, she is pushed to the margins. This book is a powerful historical account of lives lived in the crossfire of conflict and power, a story too rarely heard, and too often overlooked. Broken promises of peace for a people who have lived, generation after generation, in the shadow of war and politics. * ZAHRA JOYA, founder of Rukhshana Media * As with the voice, so with the book: distinct, original, humane, powerful and utterly compelling. * PHILIPPE SANDS, author of EAST WEST STREET *