SHIRIN by Taqi Bakhtyari moves between Afghanistan and suburban Sydney to follow a Hazara refugee as she navigates one decisive year — from a childhood marked by the violent imposition of silence to a young womanhood of intense personal and social upheavals and possibilities.
Bakhtyari delivers in translucent style the tale of a young woman in unsettled exile. SHIRIN compels the reader in its authenticity. Thomas Keneally