My War at Home

An arranged marriage at 16 to a man she has never spoken to ignites Afghan American Sultan's search for her place in the two cultures she considers her own. The 27-year-old who made the documentary From Ground Zero to Ground Zero with Jon Alpert describes in this accessible memoir how she became an advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan: after divorcing her husband and witnessing 9/11, Sultan's ""soul-searching"" becomes a mission to promote understanding between Afghans and Americans. While the book begins with the rich details of her traditional wedding, Sultan is not in her element here, tending to give her characters little depth. The author, who supported action against the Taliban, hits her stride when she moves from the personal to the political, describing, for example, organizing a conference on women and the Afghan constitution, or meeting an Afghan farmer whose wife and all but one of his children were killed in a U.S. attack. ""Would this boy grow up to be America's enemy?"" Sultan wonders; if al Qaeda members were hiding in Texas, would ""AC-130 gunships, spewing bullets from a rotating cannon"" be used? Though this politically driven book may age quickly, it is a time capsule that will appeal to a wide audience.