Nadia Hashimi — City of Widows - with Liza Mundy episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 9, 2026 · 53 MIN

Nadia Hashimi — City of Widows - with Liza Mundy

from Politics and Prose Presents · host Politics and Prose

From bestselling novelist Nadia Hashimi—a gripping, occasionally terrifying, yet ultimately hopeful novel focusing on the women of Afghanistan in the years since the Taliban regained power.In February 2020 the US began to withdraw troops from Afghanistan after nearly twenty years of occupation. A whole generation of Afghan women had been born during that time—women who had grown up in relative peace, gone to school, entered the professions, even served in the army and Parliament. The women of Afghanistan watched as the Taliban filled the streets again. They knew everything was about to change.In the bustling, cosmopolitan city of Kabul, women are TV newscasters, shop owners, doctors, teachers, lawyers, even soldiers. They include Marjan, who fought with the Afghan army, and will risk everything to keep her daughter Hawa safe. In her earlier days Marjan was called Rahima and had lived the life of a bacha posh—a girl raised as a boy until she came of age. Forced into an early marriage, Rahima took the name Marjan when she fled her warlord husband. She’s created a whole new life for herself, one she will not give up easily.So has Soraya, who defiantly wore red lipstick as she led the army’s all-female combat force over the objections of her upper-class family. Soraya’s now a wanted woman whose brother may choose not to shelter her from the Taliban. What will become of her? Or Mina, a journalist and broadcaster whose beautiful face is known to everyone in Kabul—including the new regime?Fight or flight? Or find a third way? One thing is for certain: none of these women will meekly accept her fate.An epic saga of fear, resistance, change, and reinvention, City of Widows gives voices to the unforgettable Afghan women at a crossroads of history.Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician turned international bestselling novelist and daughter of Afghan immigrants. She is the author of four books for adults: The Pearl that Broke Its Shell, A House Without Windows, When the Moon Is Low, and Sparks Like Stars, as well as the middle grade novels One Half from the East and The Sky at Our Feet. She lives with her family in the Washington, DC, suburbs.Hashimi is in conversation with Liza Mundy, an award-winning journalist and the New York Times bestselling author of four books, including Code Girls. A former staff writer for The Washington Post, Mundy writes for The Atlantic, Politico, and Smithsonian Magazine, among other publications.PURCHASE:https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063423541?ic_referral=Qr729UfQ_pXMY7rnNZnumC7MygL-ikysVgmbKi68HWUwM67WiYvJdrTDrFqS5U8MJeAIkUV4IMFkfXe_TOus6HaDmKhEd2pFo0LTPVbYt-98QDb8K9RiIp5GzuCLbRx8wRLZNic

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 9, 2026

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Nadia Hashimi — City of Widows - with Liza Mundy

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