On the Edge of Being

"I felt connected to the street girls, as if our silent smiles spoke a thousand words between us."

Sometimes painful and at other times shocking, On the Edge of Being is still hopeful. The daughter of a progressive Afghan governor, author Sharifa Sharif observes from an early age that life for women -- both within and beyond the walls of her home -- is neither simple nor fair. The world that Afghan women inhabit in her memoir illuminates the split between body and voice -- a split that has wrought a devastating impact on the women of Afghanistan.