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    Sparks Like Stars: A Novel
    Sparks Like Stars: A Novel
    Sparks Like Stars: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Sparks Like Stars: A Novel

    Written by Nadia Hashimi

    Narrated by Mozhan Marno

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Suspenseful…emotionally compelling. I found myself eagerly following in a way I hadn’t remembered for a long time, impatient for the next twist and turn of the story.""—NPR

    An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low.

    Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives. 

    Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name—Aryana Shepherd—and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured. 

    New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana’s world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room—a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana’s fury and desire for answers—and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul—a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban—and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost. 

    Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a story of home—of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival, reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi’s singular voice.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 2, 2021
    ISBN9780063008311
    Author

    Nadia Hashimi

    Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician turned international bestselling novelist and daughter of Afghan immigrants. She is the author of four books for adults, as well as the middle grade novels One Half from the East and The Sky at Our Feet. She lives with her family in the Washington, DC, suburbs. Visit her online at nadiahashimibooks.com.

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    Reviews for Sparks Like Stars

    4.5/5

    260 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It was such an engaging story it kept me wanting for more I definitely feel like checking out the other books as well. I really love Historical fiction like these as I feel I can always learn something without poring through mundane details of a text book.
    • 5/5
      i loved this book so much. i became totally absorbed by the story and felt torn between needing to know what happens next, but not wanting the book to be over. i wish i could read this book again for the first time.

      i’ve read some other reviews complaining about the narrator’s voice, but i think the dry, level speaking perfectly represents how Aryana would speak. the narrator’s voice seems to be reserved and powerful, exactly how a physician who’s gone through unimaginable trauma would sound.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this wonderful story via audio book. Narrator was very dry and boring, she sounded like she was uninterested in the job, almost like she was reading a boring textbook, not a novel filled with emotion.
    • 5/5
      An excellent read. The author does a good job of bring you into the book and making you feel like you are there. Narrator also did a great job!
    • 5/5
      Fantastic story, poignant and moving. History that I’m only vaguely familiar with. Such beautiful writing!!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      4.5 stars! Truth of many diminished nations! Good narrating! Thank you!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Just never got interning , only finished it because I thought surely this book is going to go somewhere, oh well?
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book about a child who loses her family in the 1966 coup in Afghanistan. Ariana’s story of leaving Afghanistan and her journey to America and her healing is a very interesting and heartwarming story. As an adult she searches for the graves of her family. It’s a well written journey.
    • 4/5
      As I finished the last paragraph of this book, I sighed. I did not want to leave Hashimi’s world. She has the expertise to juxtaposition the horrors of war alongside the gentleness of the Afghan people and leave the reader yearning to provide comfort to those beautiful people.Sitara Zamani returns to Kabul after decades away. She is determined to find the bodies of her family who were killed in 1978 in a bloody coup. She believes she was the single survivor of that tragic night. Sitara was smuggled from the palace that night and left at the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. Taking on a new name —Aryana Shepherd—she studies hard and eventually becomes a surgeon. She has buried her trauma and grief, refusing to deal with it. Until someone from her past becomes her patient. Now those feelings bubble to the surface, refusing to be pushed down. She knows she must return to Kabul.An emotional read – I smiled at the childhood scenes of Sitara and her loving family; I felt 10-year-old Sitara’s terror as she quivered in her hiding place, hearing her family assassinated. While this is a story of heartbreak and tragedy, it is also a story of love. The relationship between Aryana and her adoptive mother is truly beautiful. Perfect for book clubs. So many threads that can be discussed.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      My mind is reeling, full of thoughts on how can I possibly review a book of this epic scope and do it justice? The answer is I can't. But, I will try.This masterpiece, based off true events of the 1978 coup in Afghanistan, centers around the daughter of an Afghan Presidential Advisor. At age 10, she witnesses the murder of her entire family during the attack on the Presidential Palace. This novel chronicles the life of that child - Sitara Zamani, her transition into becoming Aryana Shephard, and her search for closure.Haunting, stunning and a truly incredible story. Nadia Hashimi's dual timeline storytelling is so brilliant, that had I not known otherwise, I would've thought this was an autobiography.The writing flows beautifully - the history, the landscape, the emotional and physical journey - it all comes together in an extraordinary saga that spans decades and countries. I was so completely swept into this book that I read for hours, losing track of everything around me.Heartbreaking, thought provoking and absolutely riveting, Sitara's story will linger long after you read the final page.*Thank you William Morrow Marketing, Nadia Hashimi and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book! It was beautifully written and so moving. Aryana, Tilly and Nia were such strong and well written female characters. I learned a lot about Afghanistan and it's history in the 1970s. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this story of survival and of coming to terms with the past. I found Sitara a sympathetic character both as a child and as a woman, and I was drawn in by both her physical journey and her emotional one. There were some strong supporting characters, the setting was vividly brought to life, and it was interesting to read and learn about places and events with which I'd been unfamiliar.Thank you NetGalley and The Bookclub Girls for this early read.