An American Bride in Kabul
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Narrated by:
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Janet Metzger
About this listen
Few westerners will ever be able to understand Muslim or Afghan society unless they are part of a Muslim family. Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century.
In 1961, when she arrived in Kabul with her Afghan bridegroom, authorities took away her American passport. Chesler was now the property of her husband's family and had no rights of citizenship. Back in Afghanistan, her husband, a wealthy, westernized foreign college student with dreams of reforming his country, reverted to traditional and tribal customs. Chesler found herself unexpectedly trapped in a posh polygamous family, with no chance of escape. She fought against her seclusion and lack of freedom, her Afghan family's attempts to convert her from Judaism to Islam, and her husband's wish to permanently tie her to the country through childbirth.
Drawing upon her personal diaries, Chesler recounts her ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid - and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture. Chesler nearly died there, but she managed to get out, returned to her studies in America and became an author and an ardent activist for women's rights throughout the world.
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Princess describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country. Sultana tells of appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: 13-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age; young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room". Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and courage.
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Good story but...
- By Jay Friedman on 07-25-14
By: Jean Sasson
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A Moonless, Starless Sky
- Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa
- By: Alexis Okeowo
- Narrated by: Kamali Minter
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In A Moonless, Starless Sky Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powerful tapestry of modern Africa: a young couple, kidnap victims of Joseph Kony's LRA; a Mauritanian waging a lonely campaign against modern-day slavery; a women's basketball team flourishing amid war-torn Somalia; and a vigilante who takes up arms against the extremist group Boko Haram.
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Amazing and Inspirational Stories
- By F L. on 01-01-18
By: Alexis Okeowo
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Stalin's Daughter
- The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
- By: Rosemary Sullivan
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The award-winning author of Villa Air-Bel returns with a painstakingly researched, revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history's most monstrous dictators—her father, Josef Stalin. Born in the early years of the Soviet Union, Svetlana Stalin spent her youth inside the walls of the Kremlin. Communist Party privilege protected her from the mass starvation and purges that haunted Russia, but she did not escape tragedy—the loss of everyone she loved, including her mother, two brothers, aunts and uncles, and a lover twice her age, deliberately exiled to Siberia by her father.
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Insightful and thoroughly researched
- By Jean on 06-16-15
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Excellent Daughters
- The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World
- By: Katherine Zoepf
- Narrated by: Katherine Zoepf
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than a decade, Katherine Zoepf has lived in or traveled throughout the Arab world, reporting on the lives of women, whose role in the region has never been more in flux. Only a generation ago, female adolescence as we know it in the West did not exist in the Middle East. There were only children and married women. Today, young Arab women outnumber men in universities, and a few are beginning to face down religious and social tradition in order to live independently, to delay marriage, and to pursue professional goals.
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Best book on Middle East written this decade
- By Zuzana B on 07-02-17
By: Katherine Zoepf
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The House of Government
- A Saga of the Russian Revolution
- By: Yuri Slezkine, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 45 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the epic story of an enormous apartment building where Communist true believers lived before their destruction. The House of Government is unlike any other book about the Russian Revolution and the Soviet experiment.
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Inside saga of the leaders of Bolshevism & the USSR
- By Edward V. Blanchard on 11-05-17
By: Yuri Slezkine, and others
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Arab and Jew
- Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
- By: David K. Shipler
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices of Jews and Arabs that have been intensified by war, terrorism, and nationalism. Focusing on the diverse cultures that exist side by side in Israel and Israeli-controlled territories, Shipler examines the process of indoctrination that begins in schools; he discusses the far ranging effects of socioeconomic differences, historical conflicts between Islam and Judaism, attitudes about the Holocaust, and much more.
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'Arab and Jew' Needs a Good Editor
- By Robert W. Gillespie on 10-23-03
By: David K. Shipler
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If the Oceans Were Ink
- An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran
- By: Carla Power
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's eye-opening story of how she and her longtime friend, Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship - between a secular American and a madrasa-trained sheikh - had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names.
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WAY TOO LONG-but good material
- By teri_novabern on 07-30-16
By: Carla Power
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Wild Swans
- Three Daughters of China
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrated by: Joy Osmanski
- Length: 22 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular best seller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.
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Accurate, moving and chilling
- By David on 12-15-12
By: Jung Chang
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Aavarana
- The Veil
- By: Sandeep Balakrishna - translator, S. L. Bhyrappa
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Aavarana: The Veil by S. L. Bhyrappa is a story of a free-spirited and rebellious young woman, Lakshmi, who marries the man she is deeply in love with. Amir, her husband, requests she convert to Islam, and she reluctantly agrees. Despite her father being completely against the marriage, she breaks ties with him and changes her name to Razia. However, things change for the worse, and she discovers a different side to Amir. He is not the progressive and liberal person she thought he was.
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History and research
- By Manan Shukla MD on 11-16-24
By: Sandeep Balakrishna - translator, and others
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I Was Told to Come Alone
- My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
- By: Souad Mekhennet
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for the Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing - Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other.
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A timely book with poor narration
- By F. AHMAD on 07-15-17
By: Souad Mekhennet
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Tea with Hezbollah
- Sitting at the Enemies' Table - Our Journey Through the Middle East
- By: Ted Dekker, Carl Medearis
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Is it really possible to love one's enemies? That's the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel-and-glass high-rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet-pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world's three major religions: Jerusalem.
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Over the top great book
- By Robert on 07-22-10
By: Ted Dekker, and others
What listeners say about An American Bride in Kabul
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Charmaine
- 08-19-20
Westerners will not believe
The book is heartfelt, sad, eye opening and unbelievable. The writer’s personal emotions and the subjective emotions of her American and Afganistan friends and family do not leave anything to be guessed. It may be revealed in different parts but come together as cohesive revelations of her experience as a bride in Kabul.
Very quickly you are not reading a book but watching a movie with vivid images. The day-to-day existence of an American bride amidst the Afghanistan household women, men and a husband that changed when they crossed the border. Depictions of a beautiful country, shops, bazaars, fabrics and scenery.
She dabbles in the Eastern politics from people in the know and conclusions of people that had emotional investment in Afghanistan, including herself.
You have to respect Phyllis’ research into history, previous books written in the same genre, social environment and culture. This brings muscle to the book of a culture that western society will not believe unless told by the one that encountered it first hand.
I read many books in this genre and this one dances with the best of them.
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- Elaine Fresco
- 04-16-19
An Exceptional Book
Although I have listened to many books on Audible, this is my first review. "An American Bride in Kabul" deserves accolades. I was looking for a book that addressed the issue of misogyny around the world, and Phyllis Chesler does a brilliant job of describing the situation of most women in the Middle East. She tells her very interesting personal story but also provides a rich history of the people, the customs, and the religion, all well-documented and never boring. I am looking forward to reading (listening to) her other books.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-17-21
great first few chapters
the chapters about life in kabul was very interesting, I expected more details about life in kabul. post the first half it got a little more monotonous. overall a good read
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- Janese Hardy
- 09-10-21
Incredible Insight
This account of Afghan women’s lives is so incredibly insightful, and not only from the author’s perspective. She did her best to describe what life was/is like for all Afghan women, from the bottom to the top, which unfortunately, is much the same. It is a tragedy that in this day and age women still must live this way. It was amazing to read what the author went through, overcame, and also what she has accomplished in her lifetime. Much to my surprise, she actually has held a relationship with her Afghan husband even after her time with him in Afghanistan. I don’t want to say too much but this long lasting relationship has only aided her in her writing journey. Must read for anyone trying to educate themselves in Afghanistan’s history.
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- ebselon
- 04-04-23
Great true story
it's explaining the story from different angles and views. if you are prejudice it might turn a light on. if you are not, then you will simply learn more.
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- Jan Whitney
- 04-25-23
Interesting story, but not as the title suggests
Having read a lot of stories about the women of Iraq and Iran, this one was more about the author’s political agenda. The first half was more about her being “an American bride” but the second half was more about establishing her political viewpoint. Yes, it was very interesting… I’m just saying that the title is misleading.
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- C. Etana Finkler
- 05-27-24
Jewish American feminist marries Afghan intellectual & loses her freedom
Fabulous book. True memoir, of Phyllis Chesler’s early life in 1960 NYC & then Kabul. … a quick read, like historical fiction. Jewish American feminist marries Afghan intellectual, goes to meet his parents in Afghanistan and by breakfast she is trapped in purdah, (the practice that was inaugurated by Muslims …. that involves the seclusion of women from public observation by means of concealing clothing (including the veil) and by the use of high-walled enclosures, screens, and curtains within the home).
Second half of the book is a slower read, (I enjoyed the audiobook), more of the history of Afghanistan, the persecution & exile of a well-established Jewish community in Afghanistan, some information about 9/11 & Osama Ben Laden who hid in Afghanistan.
In light of the current Middle East conflict, and how naive and uninformed we westerners are about Muslim culture over centuries, and the growing Muslim Brotherhood, which has been putting women into burkas and forbidding them to get any education, and its tendency for conversion, I think this is a valuable & enjoyable read, especially from the focus on women rights in different cultures in the 1960s and today.
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