This is an interesting read from an Afghan culture viewpoint. However, I felt that the story was a bit unrealistic. In a war-torn city like Kabul plagued by terrorist bombings, it seems unlikely that traditionalists such as those depicted in the story would give up these values to have fairytale romances based on western values. The author did live in the city for five years and, I suspect designed the story from incidents she experienced or heard about for this novel. For this reason I gave it 3 stars.