Leave Afghanist A Summary

Mariam, a young girl, lives in a small shack with her mother, Nana, outside of the city of Herat in Afghanistan. Nana had worked a wealthy cinema owner Jalil, Mariam's father, but after she became pregnant, Jalil cast her out to the shack. Jalil has multiple legitimate wives and children. Jalil visits Mariam every Thursday, telling stories and bringing gifts. She adores him. Mariam's other friend, Mullah Faizullah, teaches her the Koran and listens to her problems. For her 15th birthday, Mariam asks Jalil to take her to the cinema to see the new cartoon of Pinocchio. Jalil agrees to do so, against what Nana wants. After waiting all day for her father to come she wanders into Herat. A place she’s never been. She finds herself sleeping outside

After they are killed, Laila's mother Fariba is never the same. She stays burried in her bed. As conflict turns to war in Kabul, living conditions become difficult for everyone. Despite her father Hakim's emphasis on attending school, Laila must quit because the streets are too dangerous. She is tutored at home. Hakim wants to leave Afghanistan. Go to some place safe, like America. Yet Fariba will not leave the land for which her sons have died. Tariq's family, however, moves to Pakistan, and Laila feels devastated. Before Tariq left, he and Laila had sex. Tariq asked Laila to come with him and marry him, but Laila could not leave her father.

A few weeks after Tariq's family leaves, Laila is almost hit by a bullet. This event wakes Fariba to the ongoing risks of living in Kabul. She doesn’t want to lose her last child so she agrees to leave. While they pack, a bomb hits Laila's home, and she is the lone survivor of the blast, knocked unconscious.

Laila awakens in Rasheed's and Mariam's house. They took care of her as she healed. After a few days, Abdul Sharif comes and brings news that Tariq had been hospitalized and then died. Laila feels devastated

Laila is ecstatic. She weeps and hugs Tariq. Tariq and Laila visit together over the next few days, and Tariq describes his past. He went through a refugee camp, both of his parents died, and he spent time in prison. He became a hotel janitor. Laila tells Tariq about Aziza and her marriage to Rasheed, and Tariq does not blame her for marrying.

Zalmai is unhappy about the visits. He tells Rasheed that Laila has allowed Tariq to see her face, and Rasheed becomes enraged. Rasheed beats Laila and tries to suffocate her. He comes to succeeding, but Mariam hits him twice with a shovel, killing him.

After Rasheed's death, Laila is determined to leave Kabul. She asks Mariam to come with her and Tariq to Pakistan, but Mariam refuses. If Mariam were to leave, the Taliban would search for both of them to find the murderer, but Mariam cannot let the children live in such danger. She also could not look at Zalmai every day knowing she had killed his father. Laila and Zalmai pick up Aziza and leave town. They never see Mariam again.

Mariam eventually is caught and put into a prison run by the Taliban. She tries to explain that she was defending herself when she killed Rasheed, but the judge sentences Mariam to death. She is publicly