"En eksepsjonelt vellykket bok, umulig å klassifisere: Midt mellom en roman av Tolstoy og beskrivelsene til etnografen Oscar Lewis. Et svimlende dykk ned i den hemmelige, intime verden til afghanske kvinner."
"… this is a remarkable portrait, with deftly woven accounts of weddings and journeys, books and bookselling, relations and squabbles, firmly anchored by pleasing details about food and customs, all set against the backdrop of a derelict city, filthy and crammed but not defeated."