A Fort of Nine Towers
SynopsisPlot
For the young Qais Akbar Omar, Kabul was a city of gardens where he flew kites from his grandfather's roof with his cousin Wakeel while their parents, uncles, and aunts drank tea around a cloth spread in the grass. It was a time of telling stories, reciting poetry, selling carpets, and arranging marriages.Then civil war exploded. Their neighborhood found itself on the front line of a conflict that grew more savage by the day. With rockets falling around them, Omar's family fled, leaving behind everything they owned to take shelter in an old fort-only a few miles distant and yet a world away from the gunfire. As the violence escalated, Omar's father decided he must take his children out of the country to safety. On their perilous journey, they camped in caves behind the colossal Buddha statues in Bamyan, and took refuge with nomad cousins, herding their camels and sheep. While his father desperately sought smugglers to take them over the border, Omar grew up on the road, and met a deaf-mute carpet weaver who would show him his life's purpose.
Story
About this book
Qais Akbar Omar grew up in Kabul when the city felt like a place of gardens, with kite-flying from his grandfather's roof and family gatherings on the grass. Poetry, storytelling, music, and carpet trading filled the household. That world broke apart when civil war reached their neighborhood and familiar streets became a front line. With rockets falling nearby, the family abandoned their home for an old fort a few miles away.
As conditions worsened, his father decided to move the children out of Afghanistan. They traveled through northern provinces, sheltering in caves cut behind the giant Buddha figures at Bamyan and staying with nomadic relatives who herded camels and sheep. While his father searched for smugglers who could get them across a border, Omar grew up on the road and met a deaf-mute carpet weaver whose craft showed him his life's work.
Later chapters follow the years of Taliban rule. At eighteen, Omar opened a secret carpet workshop that gave paid work to girls barred from classrooms, while his parents quietly taught them literature and science. Afghan folklore and poetry run through the account. The New York Times Book Review named it an Editor's Choice, and the Washington Post listed it among its notable books.
