A moving and inspiring memoir by Afghanistan's youngest female mayor and campaigner for human rights, as seen in Netflix's In Her Hands documentary.

'Zarifa will break your heart' Christina Lamb, author of Our Bodies, Their Battlefields and I Am Malala

'Incredible' Stylist

'In this earnest and fiery memoir, an activist and politician from Afghanistan recounts how her country's instability marked her life' New York Times

Zarifa Ghafari was two years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools. She was seven when the American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became the youngest and one of the first female mayors in Maidan Shahr, Afghanistan. An extremist mob barred her from her office and assassins tried to kill her six times. Through it all, Zarifa promoted peace and tried to lift up women, despite constant fear for herself and her family.

Written with honesty, pain and, ultimately, hope, Zarifa is an astonishing memoir that offers an unparalleled perspective of the last two decades in Afghanistan from a citizen, daughter, woman and mayor.

'Zarifa's words, like her life, are an act of courage, weaving heartache with hope' Shubhangi Swarup, author of Latitudes of Longing

'This gripping book can be read at one go and surely is a must buy' Telegraph (India)

'Frank and impassioned, Ghafari's narrative spotlights the power of activism... a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience' Publishers Weekly

Zarifa Ghafari & Hannah Smith

I am one of the lucky ones.

I got out of Afghanistan alive when the Taliban retook the country. Millions of others did not - they are now living under one of the world's most repressive regimes, with any progress that was made for women over the past twenty years being brutally reversed.

Every day, I yearn for my motherland. Now it is my duty to make sure that the world knows what is happening to women there, and what we must do to change things for them.

Zarifa Ghafari was three years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools, and she began her education in secret. She was seven when American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became mayor - the only female mayor in the country - of Maidan Wardak, Kabul. An extremist mob barred her from her office; her male staff walked out in protest; assassins tried to kill her six times. Finally, they killed their father. Ghafari stood her ground. She ended corruption in the province, promoted peace and tried to lift up women.

When the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, Ghafari had to flee. This astonishing memoir describes the work she did, the women she still tries to help as they live under Taliban rule and her vision for how grassroots activism can change their lives and the lives of women everywhere.