The Keeper of Families: Jean Heringman Willacy's Afghan Diaries
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Book Overview
How does Jean Heringman Willacy, a middle-aged, middle class American woman, end up living in Afghanistan? At retirement age, how is she transformed from exporter of fashionable Afghan coats to ardent advocate for Afghan refugees?
Now compiled for the first time into a multi-layered and gripping narrative, Jean's unconventional story is captured in detailed diaries that span one of the most turbulent periods in Afghan history, both before and after the Soviet invasion.
In a story never-before-told, The Keeper of Families' reveals Jean's remarkable legacy:
The eye-witness account of the brutal military coup that led to the Soviet invasion Live tape recordings from the streets of Kabul First-hand experience of living in a Soviet puppet state Stories of life in the refugee camps and the life of refugees in exile The different perspectives of women on Afghan life Photographs and Afghan refugee children's war drawings from a major art exhibition
Reckless or courageous. can one Western woman, on her own, make a difference? And how does Jean's life and the lives of innumerable Afghan refugees come to be inextricably bound together with a love as strong as any family tie?
Meet Jean: "The Keeper of Families," a formidable foe fighting the tyranny of bureaucracy, a staunch ally to all whom she befriended.
The Keeper of Families is a notable addition to the study of displacement which, sadly, continues to be a major human issue of growing proportions. New Jean-type reporting is needed."
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