The City Where Dreams Come True

Book excerpt: THE CITY WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE A Collection of Four Stories by Gulsifat Shahidi Viewed from the perspective of three generations, Shahidi presents a rare and poignant insight into the impact which Tajikistan's terrible civil war had on its people and its culture during the early '90s. Informed partly by her own experiences as a journalist, these beautifully interwoven stories are imbued with both her affection for her native land and her hopes for its future. The narrators - Horosho, his granddaughter Nekbaht, her husband Ali and his cousin Shernazar - each endure harrowing episodes of loss, injustice and violence but against all odds, remain driven by a will to survive, and restore peace, prosperity and new opportunities for themselves and fellow citizens.