Nadia Hashimi – Tender Family Stories

Nadia Hashimi is a bestselling international author whose latest book, Sparks Like Stars, draws on her experience as an Afghan American physician who – like her protagonist in Sparks Like Stars – was on emergency call in New York on 9/11.  Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in Binge Reading today Nadia talks about the grief we all understand when mothers lose sons and fathers daughters, of her experience growing up in a culture overtaken by war, and writing stories that speak for those whose voices go unheard. And in our Armchair Traveler Giveaway We’ve got three E book copies of Nadia’s latest book Sparks Like Stars to give away to three lucky readers.  Enter the draw to win! Offer closes July 19.. ENTER FREE BOOK DRAW But before we get to Nadia, just a reminder that Binge Reading is launching on Patreon. For as little as a cup of coffee a month, you can support the show and get exclusive bonus content about books you won’t want to put down and the authors who write them. Check out www.patreon.com/thejoysofbingereading for more details. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why she wants her books to humanize the newsWriting novels while still working as a physicianThe 'privilege' of patient doctor conversationsHer family's loss of a way of life in AfghanistanTeen fiction that challenges rigid gender boundariesLiving across two cultures Where to find Nadia Hashimi:  Website: https://nadiahashimibooks.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadiahashimibooks/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NadiaHashimiBooks Twitter: @NadiaHasimi Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7273667.Nadia_Hashimi What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. But now, here’s Nadia. Introducing author Nadia Hashimi Jenny Wheeler: Hello there Nadia, and welcome to the show. It's so good to have you with us. Nadia Hashimi: Hi, Jenny. It's so great to be here with you. Jenny Wheeler: You are an international bestselling writer and Sparks Like Stars, which is your most recent book and the one we are discussing today, is your sixth novel and your fourth one for adults. You have done a couple of youth books as well, but they all draw heavily on your own background as the daughter of an Afghan family who moved to the States when you were young. Nadia Hashimi - Best selling author and her latest book Half Life, Re-imagining the life of Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie Tell us a little bit about that heritage, which comes through in all of your books so far. Nadia Hashimi: My parents immigrated from Afghanistan in the early part of the 1970s. They were a couple of the first people from their families and of the Afghan population to come to the United States. Soon after they left, many others started to follow because of the unrest that had started to bubble up in Afghanistan. Then of course in 1979, with the Soviet invasion, when it fell into a state of war and conflict, you started to see widespread movements of refugees. I have grown up watching members of my extended family flee from Afghanistan, flee from the conflict – whether it was in the war with the Soviets or during the Civil War or the Taliban regime – and moving to various parts of the world as refugees. These stories and these struggles have been part of our collective experience. Parallels with Nadia's own life Jenny Wheeler: Sparks Like Stars explores the dilemma of Aryana, an Afghan American physician in a New York hospital. She is fully integrated into the American way of life, but still haunted by traumatic events that happened in her childhood in Kabul. There are quite a number of similarities between you and that character – you are also a physician and of Afghan heritage. We don't want to give away too much of the story because things happen in the story that we don't w...