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    Voyage to Enchantment
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    Voyage to Enchantment
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    Voyage to Enchantment
    Ebook184 pages2 hours

    Voyage to Enchantment

    By Rosemary Hammond

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook


    Pretty woman

    It was the vacation of a lifetime and shy Melissa was determined to make the most of it. That meant throwing off her inhibitions once and for all and, like some modern-day Cinderella, transforming herself completely!

    But it seemed that famous author Miles Thatcher thoroughly disapproved of her innocent attempts to enjoy herself for oncealthough that didn't mean he was above stealing a kiss in the moonlight. He had absolutely no right to tell her what she could and couldn't do. Miles was no Prince Charming and after the end of their vacation they'd never see each other again, surely ?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarlequin
    Release dateJul 15, 2011
    ISBN9781459277342
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Voyage to Enchantment

    3.5/5

    1,370 ratings92 reviews

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    • 4/5
      So my fiance is deployed to Afghanistan for the next however many months, and I decided, silly though it may sound, to read a few books set in Afghanistan as a way of feeling just a little bit nearer to him.

      I couldn't have picked a better first book. While I am vaguely aware of some disapproval over the author's technique (she lived with a family in Afghanistan, and then wrote a book about their lives, but removed herself entirely from the story), I just don't feel riled up about it. Sure, there may be some legitimate objections to a Western woman telling the story of an Afghan family; her perspective can't help but be a little bit biased. But that's no reason not to write the book -- it's more an instruction for the reader to think about the author's intentions, same as you might with any other book.

      I learned quite a bit about Afghanistan's cultural and political history, and even its geography. In fact, I'm pretty outraged by the destruction of many of Afghanistan's irreplaceable historical artifacts at the hands of the Taliban -- can you imagine someone taking over Greece in modern day and destroying what's left of the Parthenon?

      I also became thoroughly engrossed in this family's story, felt lots of irritation at and sympathy for various characters, and basically just enjoyed myself throughout the whole thing.
    • 4/5
      This was a fascinating book, offering a real insight into the life of people - particularly women - in Afghanistan. The author lived alongside the family of a bookseller, and uses her insights from that time to paint a picture of a world completely different to the Western way of life. Seierstad does an incredible job of removing herself from the pages, and the people she lived beside really shine through the story. None of us can really claim ignorance about the treatment of women in the Middle East, but I know I can admit ignorance as to any understanding of how that treatment is received by those women or how it affects their lives. I found the description of life under a burkha particularly harrowing, and the story of the youngest daughter very sad. I know that the book itself is not solely focused on the life of female Afghans, but that is the aspect which got under my skin the most. I felt the struggles of the men too, but not so keenly. The Bookseller himself left me very cold as I could not understand how a man who was so passionate about the written word and expanding the mind still failed to challenge the status quo when it came to even the women in his own family.

      This book is a true eye-opener to a world that you really need to see (as it were) to begin to understand.
    • 3/5
      he Bookseller of Kabul, a nonfiction work written in literary form, has been out now for more than a decade, and has had its fair share of controversy. Seierstad spent six months living with the Khan family in Kabul, Afghanistan (their name has been changed), not long after the Taliban had been driven out.

      Despite the title, the dominant theme of the book is the lack of freedom and autonomy for the women in Sultan Khan's family. The image presented of Sultan Khan is of a money-hungry businessman who makes his young sons work 12-hour days in his bookshops instead of going to school. He is portrayed as an autocratic patriarch of the family that virtually enslaves his 19-year old sister, and marries a 16-year old girl, bringing her into the family as a second wife.

      The picture painted by Asne Seierstad in The Bookseller of Kabul is not a pretty one. And it doesn't take long for her to be sued by Sultan Khan, whose real name is Shah Muhammad Rais.

      As a reader, I can not vouch for the accuracy of the author. I do not know if what she writes is an exaggerated portrayal, dramatized by an author and publicist to appeal to Western audiences...or cold, hard facts about one family in a country that has seen so much devastation and destruction over the last few decades.

      The sources for all of the vignettes in The Bookseller of Kabul come primarily from three family members who speak English. Sultan Khan, the patriarch and esteemed bookseller of Kabul; his eldest son Mansur, and Khan's youngest sister, Leila.

      Leila. Out of all the family members, my heart hurts the most for Leila. If what I read was accurate, she is a brave woman for speaking so openly and honestly about her treatment in the Khan household.
    • 5/5
      I liked this book, although there is nothing to really like about the country and the way all the people in the book live in old bombed out mud huts, are controlled until the death by parents, brothers, uncles.... Women are less than zero, even the wearing of nail polish or the clicking of heels on the sidewalk under the Taliban was a cause for a beating.

      I have very mixed feelings about their religion and cultural oppression and lack of education both for girls and boys, but especially for girls. Every poor country no matter where, and no matter the nationality, culture or religion faces choices that we in the West don't have to. They get electricity for a few hours a day, have no bathrooms and honor killings continue. Part of me feels badly that any woman should have to exist this way as a non-entity only made to serve and follow rules, rituals and orders. The other half of me feels that women don't band together as we did here to get the vote, and inflict what was inflicted on them to their own daughters, so it never ends.

      It is a frustrating and aggravating read especially to a pro Western and feminist thinker.
    • 3/5
      While the book demonstrates Seierstad's skill as an observer, as a book I found it very choppy, and more like a collection of stories. I do agree with another reviewer who says that the book is mis-titled, since it is not really about the bookseller, except in the beginning. It is really about the role of women in Afghan society. And what a terrible role it is. I found myself wondering what, if anything, has changed for women in the fifteen years since this book was published? Do women have any more freedom? Are they any more than vessels for childbirth and house slaves?
    • 5/5
      a must read!!!
    • 5/5
      Very good!
    • 4/5
      On the one hand the book was fascinating. I learned a lot about Afghanistan society I never knew before. The book is well written and the characters really come to life. However, most of the characters are not likable. There is the 19 year old girl who does most of the work who really seems likable. The rest of the characters are not portrayed as people the author liked.
    • 4/5
      This was a pretty fast read for me. I liked how the author set it up - each chapter was a pretty self-contained episode about life in Afghanistan, giving a feel for what it was like under the Taliban and directly after, with some historical flavor of the war against Russia and even earlier. Her chapter entitled, Billowing, Fluttering, Winding, made me feel for the first time what it must be like to wear a burka. There was a short chapter describing the 16 decrees that the Taliban broadcast when they took over in September 1996. Another beautiful but short chapter called Suicide and Song about a woman's longing for love in Afghanistan, which is pretty much taboo. It included some lovely poem snippets.After I finished, I happened to look up the Wikipedia listing for the book and found out that the real bookseller of Kabul sued the author for defamation of character. He won, but the judgment was overturned on appeal.Good read - I recommend it.
    • 3/5
      I decided to read this book because the story reminded me of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini.Still, there was something about this novel that seemed forced. Maybe it's because the author only spent three months with this family. Maybe it's because she tried to cover too much, focused on too many people. Maybe it's because she wrote herself completely out of the novel when we know that she inhabits the home of the family she describes. In the end, this just made me want to run back to the familiar world of Hosseini's words and descriptions. Maybe it's time for a reread.
    • 2/5
      It is difficult to become emotionally attached to any of the characters in this story. However, it is just the opposite when discussing emotions attached to the characters' daily struggles and joys. This is an extremely quick read and can serve as a superficial introduction to the lives at every level within the hierarchy of a patriarchal family struggle emerging from a religious and personal oppression forced on the country.
    • 4/5
      Asne Seierstadt uses her first hand experience of living with an Afghan family to weave her experiences and her research into a novelistic account of one extended family's experience of post-9/11 Afghanistan. Her sympathies lie, for obvious reasons, with the women in the family and she paints a portrait of their struggles and, at times, remarkable resilience in fighting for some kind of freedom and independence in such an overwhelmingly patriarchal society.
      Much of the book is taken up with the feuds within the family and the central importance of arranging the right sort of marriage for the young women. Surprisingly, the war and the resulting power struggles between the Taliban, the western invaders post-9/11 and the various tribal factions takes a backseat. This book is about how ordinary families struggle to survive in extraordinary circumstances.
    • 4/5
      a portrait of life inside a Kabul family. Very real.Learn about the role of women from staying at home to trying to become a teacher to marriage proposal to wearing the burka. Sultan's sons manage the book store and never get to go anywhere. They struggle with rules, no drinking, total obedience to their father. Just a real good read on what life was like after the Talaban left with glimpse into what it was like during the Taliban
    • 2/5
      I ploughed through to the end but had lost interest well before that point. I found the writing stilted (perhaps a translation problem) and the way the various incidents were woven together was disjointed and confusing. There were some gems of information scattered throughout but not enough to warrant the time spent reading it. I'd recommend Nine Parts of Desire over this in a heartbeat.
    • 4/5
      It seems I can read literary/narrative non-fiction much easier than non-fiction riddled with so many facts. I wish it were different! This one is about Sultan Khan, an entrepreneur in Kabul, Afghanistan, making his living for his large family selling books. The book isn't so much about Sultan and his bookselling but rather details of his families life. This is understandable, since Sultan Khan is a hard worker and probably had less time to talk to the writer than his family members. He values his bookstores and hard work above everything else. I thought it was interesting than the one piece of furniture in Sultan Khan's house is a bookshelf. But the writer has a chance to show many perspectives. Sultan's family is fairly more liberal than others. The book was published in 2002, obviously when Afghanistan was more on America's radar. Seierstad did a good job getting into the heads of the people she lived with, especially the people that could speak English and share their secrets without going through an interpreter. It's more of a picture of Afghanistan life. It was interesting that multiple factions came to Sultan's bookstores at different times to destroy any books with any pictures of living things on them since most of them couldn't read and didn't know what the books were about, so they just went by the images. Aren't ALL books like that-- what books aren't about people or animals? So if they actually knew how to read, many more books would have been destroyed. It may be a religious thing, but part of it must have to do with your perfect example of fear of the unknown. They even go so far as to stomp any children's toys that look like living things (isn't that ALL toys?)... in front of the children that owns them. The book should have went further and explained the reasoning of doing those sorts of things. It was also interesting that in a hotel, there was a picture of New York City with the World Trade Center towers included both before and after September 11,.2001 and when told by an American searching for Bin Laden that those were the towers that Bin Laden's men had destroyed, soldiers that were in the hotel all the time had no idea. Also, when they were shown a picture of Bin Laden, they had never seen his image before... which is odd, since most Americans have his image permanently in their heads. This is an interesting slice of a different way of life. I think anyone in any culture should read books about cultures that are so different from their own. It would really help people understand each other.
    • 4/5
      After September 11, Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad was in Afghanistan, when she met a bookseller. The man, whom she calls Sultan Khan, was a well-educated Afghan who had a book stall in Kabul, where he had defied authorities in the past by saving books that were considered contraband. Seierstad lives with the family, talking to the men and women who speak English, recounting their experiences living in Afghanistan as a war-torn country.This is narrative nonfiction, in which Seierstad pieces together conversations, thoughts and feelings, as the family explained them to her. Interestingly, I felt strangely distant because I realized that she was describing either what she herself saw while she lived there or what only the English-speaking family members could tell her about their thoughts, feelings, actions, and conversations. Sultan Khan is a complicated person: publicly, he is happy when women are part of government, and he broke the law to preserve books important to Afghan history; yet his word is law at home with his family, including his wives, sisters, and children, who all live with him and depend upon him for his livelihood. I found myself getting so mad about the situations of the various women. I also realized in my reading how little I truly know about Afghanistan's history (they were invaded by Soviet Russia?!) and culture. An eye-opening book, and one that will make for a rich book discussion.
    • 3/5
      The story of a family from Kabul, as told to a journalist, and written in the style of a novel. The book principally covers a period after the "liberation" of Afghanistan by international forces, although there are frequent sorties into the past. I found the history and social observations fascinating. For me, though, the writing style wasn't right. I related to the individuals as fictional characters, not real people, facing real situations. I have to remind myself to be outraged by the injustices. That said, it has prompted me to find out more about the country and its people.
    • 5/5
      I learned from reading these reviews that the bookseller himself sued the author over the publication of this book; and then I spent some time googling to learn what I could about that. Bottom line, the bookseller does not seem to be disputing the facts presented in the book, nor does he seem to allege that the facts were chosen selectively. In general, it seems he is insulted by the words the author used to describe the facts. For example, he doesn't think the situation of the nineteen year old who works cleaning, cooking, etc. for about 16 hours a day should be called "servitude" when that is what any woman in her position should do. (In the bookseller's words, the author mischaracterized "the role of people in general, depicting such things as household chores undertaken by relatives who have been given shelter because of the disruptions of war as servitude.") Basically, the author was an embedded reporter within his family, and he thought her reporting was too negative, and also that she reported things he assumed would be off the record. Based on what I have found on the internet, it seems we readers should be able to trust the general gist of the book. Even before reading the news accounts, I wondered why the author bothered to change the names to protect the family's anonymity when it seemed clear this bookseller was a well-known figure in Kabul who could be easily identified by the specifics related in the book. The only way to truly protect his anonymity would have been to change his occupation; but that would have diminished the power of the book, which derives in part from the cognitive dissonance brought to the Western mind by a man who fights for books but subjugates his family.Yet, we are not usually surprised, are we, when we learn that a man who has been successful in a cutthroat working environment expects his family to treat him with the same unquestioning obedience he receives in the outside world? The absolute power the Afghan head of the family wields only exacerbates this phenomenon. Part of the bookseller's reaction to the book had to stem from his complete shock and surprise that anyone living in the bosom of his family would come away with a negative impression: Would he have let an embedded reported into his home if he thought otherwise? His reaction to the book reminds me of the American slaveholders who just couldn't believe it when their slaves ran away, and who bristled at any negative portrayal of slavery. ***One of the commentaries from the internet regarding the bookseller's reaction to the book said, "Seierstad also seems to have been unaware of the wider ramifications of her actions in contemporary Afghan politics and her crass invasion of privacy of an individual family." This may very well be true; however it does not diminish the power of this book. On the contrary, her very ignorance of the ramifications probably gave her the freedom and confidence required to write what she did. And -- while this is certainly easy for me to say, as a random reader and not someone named in the book -- personally it seems to me that the awareness raised by this book might be worth the cost. And -- again, this is easy for me to say -- if the women of the bookseller's family were forced to move to Canada and Norway because of the book, it is hard to believe they are not much better off as individuals for being out of Afghanistan. ***Moving past the controversy and onto the book itself, although this book didn't tell me anything I didn't already know from the news and other books I have read, it still really opened my eyes and my heart, bringing me to a greater understanding of those facts I already knew. So many ideas are swirling in my head right now, raised by this book. A lot of the story reminded me of the books of Jane Austen: women unable to work for wages, thus completely dependent on those family members with money; lives broken by bad marriages; connections forged by women visiting women. How much of what seems so backwards to us would have seemed normal to Jane Austen? Is Afghanistan just 200 years behind (a very short time period in the course of human history)? How does a traditional society like that move towards empowering women? What impact will their exposure to Western culture have on that movement? What impact will the expatriates (such as those women in Canada and Norway) have? And then the poverty and criminal system reminded me of Dickens, only 150 years ago, again raising the question of -- is this just a culture that got left behind?
    • 5/5
      When I reached the end of the book, I had to remind myself that this story is not a work of fiction. It's as enjoyable as a novel but also educational and eye opening. I recommend that all women read this book.
    • 5/5
      novel like non fiction book that was a pages turner for me. the author deicribes the lifes of the afghan family members. how difficult it must have been to not start to protest against the men and how they treated the women. life is still difficult and it will probably take a generation of women to become somewhat emanzipated again. great book.
    • 3/5
      Interesting look at family life in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.
    • 5/5
      I'm finding it quite hard to review this book. My difficulty with reviewing this book is not the fault of the author. The book was wonderfully written. The descriptions of the landscape were particularly evocative. If it weren't for the death and destruction there, I might be tempted to visit!My issue is with the bookseller himself. I went into this book really quite excited. I love books (clearly) and the thought of someone skirting the law in order to spread knowledge and literature gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling! However, this bookseller was an issue. Although I admired what he was doing (with some exception to his views on commerce, even if I understand that everyone must make a living), I could not admire the way he treated his family.He treated his sons like they were no better than work donkey's. He treated his first wife like she was a forgotten piece of garbage. I understand that it would be tough to run a business in this economy and in that country, but sometimes there must be limits. In any case, even though I really really really didn't like the bookseller and felt bad for the women in his family, the was a fantastic nonfiction book. It looks at a place in the world with which most of us are unfamiliar. It allows us a glimpse into a life very much unlike our own. If this is what you're looking for, give this book a chance!
    • 5/5
      I'll keep it simple: everyone needs to go read this now. I thought this was a novel but it turns out to be true. The author spent three months living with an Afghani family. The patriarch is a bookseller in Kabul (I'm sure you wouldn't have guessed that) and is in some ways very modern and liberal. However, in his home life he is very traditional. It was fascinating to learn more about the culture but I also became completely swept up in the lives of these real people. I had about 10 pages left when we got off the plane and I hurried to the baggage claim so I could sit down and finish it!
    • 3/5
      This book was like a bad car wreck. You know before you look that it's going to be bloody and horrible. But you can 't help yourself. You HAVE to see. So you do, all the while feeling like a voyeur of the worst kind, and when it is over, you feel just as sullied as you thought you would.The story is journalist Asne Seierstad's tell-all account of four months living with the family of an Afghan bookseller. I understand that she was sued by the family and ordered to pay damages to at least one family member for her portrayal and that other lawsuits are pending. Is the outrage because Seierstad fabricated events or because the Bookseller did not wish for the world to think that he was anything other than an enlightened soul who faced the wrath of the Taliban rather than allow them to burn the books of Afghan culture and history, struggling to support his extended family and wishing for the end to the oppression that has plagued Afghanistan? Only the people involved really know the truth.There is no beauty in this book. The men are horrible and the women are essentially caged. The women have no freedom, no rights, no possibility of realizing their dreams. Their lives revolve around the men, who are selfish and self-serving. The bookseller sends his wife to live in Pakistan. He then takes a second younger wife. A young son is forced to mind the bookshop from morning until sundown, in spite of the fact that he should be in school. He dreams of spending time with his friends, of being allowed to be a child. A female family member cooks and cleans for the entire family from the time she gets up untl she finally falls asleep. Her job is thankless and no one appreciates anything she does. The oldest son sneers that she is useless and tells her to get out. He interferes in the one hope she has of getting away from the family and possibly making a life for herself elsewhere. He is nasty to his mother and to the rest of the women of the household. And so on and so on.I can't say that I enjoyed the book. It is desolate and oppressive. It is heartbreaking and infuriating. But I am glad that I read it. The story needed to be told.
    • 4/5
      The author lived with an Afghan family and was later sued by the person who invited her to stay. The head of the family, the Sultan, a bookseller who is determined to save the literature of his country at great risk, is also very much embedded with the standard treatment of women and his family. After the printing of this novel, the Sultan sued the author. He didn't like what he saw. Take heed, Women! Read this book. We do not want to continue to go backwards! The book itself could have flowed better and the ending was rather abrupt.
    • 3/5
      An insightful look into Afghanistan after the Taliban.
    • 4/5
      Asne Seierstad‘s “The Bookseller of Kabul” Reviewed by Lauren Schexnider11/02/2010The first thing which impressed me about “The Bookseller of Kabul”, was Seierstad’s ability to write the factual data about Sultan Khan and his family. While actually living with the family and experiencing their day to day activities, Seierstad produced an unbiased, biographical piece on the Khans. This style of writing is to be commended and has helped me to regard journalists with “a bit” less suspicion.I also appreciated how Seierstad incorporated historical facts about the political history and status of Afghanistan. Being able to understand the various exchanges of power and government, enlightened my knowledge as to how Afghanistan fell from being on the brink of becoming a modern country, to the war-torn and provincial country it is now. “The Bookseller of Kabul” is important in understanding the history of the people of Afghanistan, as well as, allowing the reader to become familiar with this rich, but endangered culture.Finally, Seierstad’s bravery at embedding herself into the Khan family, gave a first-hand look at the state of women, before and after the Taliban. It is sickening to know intelligent and vibrant young women are allowed to rot in such an non-stimulating, oppressive and sometimes, brutal environment. How utterly sad it is, to be born a female in Afghanistan! Interestingly enough, Sonya, Sultan’s second wife, lamented over the fact that her second child might be a daughter, at the end of the book. While it is true that an overbearing parent can limit one’s dreams and aspirations (as in the case of Aimal, Sultan’s youngest son who tends the store in the dilapidated hotel), it is unbelievable that just because one is a woman, one has virtually no existence. Poor Leila! My heart ached desperately for her, as I envisioned her in a dark kitchen, bent over the stove and hastily preparing the breakfast for the ungrateful men in her home. I thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Bookseller of Kabul“ because it was an insightful and educational preview of Afghanistan culture. I was also grateful to learn some historical facts about this country, which is so far removed from my own. I did not enjoy reading about the treatment of women in Afghanistan, how women are virtual prisoners within their homes and are only useful as servants, lovers or producers of children. While I am not at liberty to judge whether their way is right or wrong, as an educator, I hate to see potential and intelligence snuffed out, like a candlewick. I wish there were some way, women in Afghanistan could receive some freedom, so that this nation might somehow come back to life. Funny how women are the ones who bring life into the world, and yet in Afghanistan, they are shut out of the world. Perhaps, that’s why it is dying in such a manner?
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed getting to know the family of the bookseller and learning a lot about Afghanistan's history, traditions and people. For a non-fiction book, this is very engagingly written. Interesting is also the setting of Afghanistan AFTER the Taliban have left.
    • 3/5
      Parts of this book just seemed to drag on and on for me, and other parts were actually very interesting. It kind of seemed odd to me that the author would portray Sultan in a bad light. The man who invited her to dinner with his family and agreed to make room for her to live in his house so she could observe his family. Of course, she shouldn't write anything but the truth, and yet I wonder if Sultan knows what was written about him and his family.
    • 5/5
      This book has changed my life forever. I generally lack the ability to connect in any real way with what is happening on the news. Now I stop what I am doing when Afghanistan is mentioned and think about the very real people described in this non-fiction book. It's hard to believe that the author actually gained the privileged of living in an Afghani home. What's even more incredible is that she simply recorded, in fluent, lucid language, what she experienced every day.