Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Sparks Like Stars starts in 1978 Kabul, Afghanistan and follows Sitara, a ten-year-old whose father is a high-ranking official working for President Daoud. She has a perfect life, until the night that soldiers storm the palace in a coup, killing her whole family. Sitara survives, thanks to a guard who smuggles her out of the palace and after meeting an American diplomat, she manages to escape to the US.
The second half of the book focuses on Sitara as an adult – she’s now a successful oncologist in New York and has managed to leave her past behind. However, when a patient brings back all the memories of that night, Sitara finds that she needs answers and travels to Kabul to find them.
This book is heart-breaking – reading about Sitara’s struggles after the coup was tough – she lost her whole family, her friends, her old life, her country. However, it was also fascinating to learn more about the history of Afghanistan – the first part of the book was particularly interesting and it’s almost a shame that the story moves to New York. Her romantic relationship plot felt a little out of place and unnecessary considering that the book was already discussing so many different issues. Overall, this is a great book club book, full of heart and beautifully written.
