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The Long Road from Kandahar
The hand of friendship can span a thousand miles…
Pakistan
Among the almond orchards of the Swat Valley, Zamir tends goats with his son, Raza. He must make a heartbreaking decision if he is to protect his youngest child from the Taliban.
Afghanistan
On a military base in Lashkar Gah, Ben lives on edge, wondering if his family will be the next to receive life-changing news from the front line.
Cornwall
And in a ramshackle house on the Cornish coast, Ben’s mother Delphi, an artist, offers a refuge to her grandson Finn, as he retreats from the changes he senses in his family.
When Raza and Finn, two boys from impossibly different worlds, meet, they are united by their loneliness. But will their unexpected bond be enough to save not just each other, but also their families, just as all their lives are about to change forever?
’At once heartbreaking and uplifting, and its focus on the themes of war and loss, love and friendship across cultures is both topical and timeless: a powerful story from a writer operating at the height of her powers’ JANE JOHNSON, The Tenth Gift
‘Interweave[ing] the devastation exacted by war on the lives of two boys… [this] blistering story shows how no one is remote, connecting rural Cornwall with the Swat Valley of Pakistan’ GEORGIA KAUFMANN, The Dressmaker of Paris
‘Sara MacDonald writes with a lyrical quality that captivated me from the start’ AMANDA JENNINGS, The Storm
Pakistan
Among the almond orchards of the Swat Valley, Zamir tends goats with his son, Raza. He must make a heartbreaking decision if he is to protect his youngest child from the Taliban.
Afghanistan
On a military base in Lashkar Gah, Ben lives on edge, wondering if his family will be the next to receive life-changing news from the front line.
Cornwall
And in a ramshackle house on the Cornish coast, Ben’s mother Delphi, an artist, offers a refuge to her grandson Finn, as he retreats from the changes he senses in his family.
When Raza and Finn, two boys from impossibly different worlds, meet, they are united by their loneliness. But will their unexpected bond be enough to save not just each other, but also their families, just as all their lives are about to change forever?
’At once heartbreaking and uplifting, and its focus on the themes of war and loss, love and friendship across cultures is both topical and timeless: a powerful story from a writer operating at the height of her powers’ JANE JOHNSON, The Tenth Gift
‘Interweave[ing] the devastation exacted by war on the lives of two boys… [this] blistering story shows how no one is remote, connecting rural Cornwall with the Swat Valley of Pakistan’ GEORGIA KAUFMANN, The Dressmaker of Paris
‘Sara MacDonald writes with a lyrical quality that captivated me from the start’ AMANDA JENNINGS, The Storm
473 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
47 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Sara MacDonald
26 books53 followersMuch of my life has been as a gypsy without roots.
I travelled as a child, went to many schools, ending my education in a strict Catholic convent in Malta while my parents lived in Cyprus.
I was set on an acting career and after working as an ASM in The Theatre Royal Windsor I won a place at the London Academy of Music and Drama.
My acting career was brief. I went off to Germany, Norway, Sharjah, then on to Singapore and Malaysia as an army wife.
I kept journals of my time in the Middle East and my first novel, Falls The Shadow, (now out of print) was published by a small independent publisher.
Eventually, tired of an itinerant life, I moved to Cornwall and put down roots. Having secured an agent, my next two novels Listening to Voices and The Sleep of Birds were published by Headline.
Sea Music was published by Harper Collins to critical acclaim, followed by Another Life, The Hour Before Dawn and Come Away With Me.
At the end of 2009 I took the decision to take time off to travel. I visited Oman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and lived for a year in Karachi, Pakistan. The result is a new book, set in Pakistan.
I travelled as a child, went to many schools, ending my education in a strict Catholic convent in Malta while my parents lived in Cyprus.
I was set on an acting career and after working as an ASM in The Theatre Royal Windsor I won a place at the London Academy of Music and Drama.
My acting career was brief. I went off to Germany, Norway, Sharjah, then on to Singapore and Malaysia as an army wife.
I kept journals of my time in the Middle East and my first novel, Falls The Shadow, (now out of print) was published by a small independent publisher.
Eventually, tired of an itinerant life, I moved to Cornwall and put down roots. Having secured an agent, my next two novels Listening to Voices and The Sleep of Birds were published by Headline.
Sea Music was published by Harper Collins to critical acclaim, followed by Another Life, The Hour Before Dawn and Come Away With Me.
At the end of 2009 I took the decision to take time off to travel. I visited Oman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and lived for a year in Karachi, Pakistan. The result is a new book, set in Pakistan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 22, 2026
I enjoyed this book a lot. Maybe because I needed to hear that “the way we live our lives counts not the dying..”
November 2, 2024
This book is a lovely story of the friendship formed by 2 boys from very different backgrounds and cultures. In the midst of a world of conflict and fighting comes the voice that violence is not the answer but education, understanding and acceptance of differences.
August 16, 2022
Wonderful mix of characters
Beautifully descriptive of landscape and the characters whose lives are within. Would that life reflected the lives and friendship of the two boys. A heartwarming take of love, loss and redemption.
Beautifully descriptive of landscape and the characters whose lives are within. Would that life reflected the lives and friendship of the two boys. A heartwarming take of love, loss and redemption.
January 19, 2024
I liked the alternate chapters at the start showing the two boys comparison of their lives. I feel it was heavy on the dialogue and not enough description for me (just a personal preference as I like this style of writing more)
June 10, 2023
Brilliant book
I rarely write reviews, I rarely read about war or the military. This book grabbed me from the first chapter. The writing is good and the characters quickly became real to me. They will stay with me. I loved it and read it in a day.
I rarely write reviews, I rarely read about war or the military. This book grabbed me from the first chapter. The writing is good and the characters quickly became real to me. They will stay with me. I loved it and read it in a day.
June 2, 2025
The premise of this book had so much potential to be greater than it was. In parts the book moved too slowly and I was tempted to skip chapters. There were also a lot of editorial errors in my copy - spelling and grammar mistakes which made it hard to read through
February 20, 2022
The Long Road from Kandahar by Sara MacDonald is an interesting and engaging read, tracing the live of an English boy and a Pakistani boy and their families.
Finn is English, the son of a British Army Major and a Finnish mother. Raza is the son of an elderly, retired Taliban fighter, now a simple farmer in Waziristan, North-West Pakistan. Finn's family live in their Army quarters in Germany, but he attends a boarding school in Cornwall. Raza lives with his elderly father in a simple house in the mountainous Swat Valley where he tends a goat herd and struggles to grow enough food during a drought.
Knowing that Raza's two elder brothers will take him for the Taliban, Raza's father has secretly arranged for Raza to live with distant, wealthy relatives in London. After a short and unhappy stay in London, Raza wins a scholarship to the same boarding school in Cornwall that Finn attends where they are roommates and soon become close friends. They spend much of their non-school time at Finn's grandparents' beach house.
Finn's father, Ben, is posted to Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, about a thousand kilometres from Raza's home village in Pakistan. Finn's mother, Finn's mother, Hanna, is desperately unhappy at the prospect of returning alone to Germany and moves out to her home in Finland, beginning what Finn believes to be his parents' eventual separation/divorce. Raza and his new parents make an emergency return trip to Pakistan because his elderly father is hospitalised. Initially, Raza is determined to stay to care for his father but is convinced to return to England after the threat of being kidnapped/recruited into the Taliban by his older brothers becomes real. While Raza is in Pakistan, Finn's father is seriously injured during a patrol and is evacuated back to England. Ben's injuries include an amputated leg and an abdominal wound. Hanna flies to England but it's clear the marriage is over, causing Finn even more grief. Raza returns and joins the extended family as it comes to terms with Ben's injuries. There is a vivid paragraph in which Raza describes similar limb amputation injuries among Pakistani children and the reader can't help to make the obvious comparison between the massive resources available to foreign troops compared to what limited medical treatment the local children have available.
This was a difficult story to read. It was principally about the eventual breaking apart of Finn's family, but a far more interesting story of the destruction of poor Pakistani families and their culture by the war between the Taliban and western powers that overflows into Waziristan. The story, like the real situation in Afghanistan, was tipped heavily towards the story of Finn, his English life and his English family's response to Army life and Ben's injury.
The book is set in both Cornwall and the northwest tribal area of the Swat Valley and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. These are vividly colourful and vital places and I thought the writing didn't do either setting justice. The dialogue, almost all of which is between friends and family members, didn't flow as naturally as it would in real life. I enjoyed reading the story and was thoroughly engaged with the characters, but I thought the focus of the story was off-centre. The story seemed predominantly about Finn, his relationship with his family, Ben's injuries and the eventual break up of the marriage and family, when I thought a more compelling story was that of Raza leaving his mountains, travelling to bustling, dusty, edgy Peshawar, on to Rawalpindi and then to an utterly new and unexpected life in England.
www.books-and-beans.com
Finn is English, the son of a British Army Major and a Finnish mother. Raza is the son of an elderly, retired Taliban fighter, now a simple farmer in Waziristan, North-West Pakistan. Finn's family live in their Army quarters in Germany, but he attends a boarding school in Cornwall. Raza lives with his elderly father in a simple house in the mountainous Swat Valley where he tends a goat herd and struggles to grow enough food during a drought.
Knowing that Raza's two elder brothers will take him for the Taliban, Raza's father has secretly arranged for Raza to live with distant, wealthy relatives in London. After a short and unhappy stay in London, Raza wins a scholarship to the same boarding school in Cornwall that Finn attends where they are roommates and soon become close friends. They spend much of their non-school time at Finn's grandparents' beach house.
Finn's father, Ben, is posted to Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, about a thousand kilometres from Raza's home village in Pakistan. Finn's mother, Finn's mother, Hanna, is desperately unhappy at the prospect of returning alone to Germany and moves out to her home in Finland, beginning what Finn believes to be his parents' eventual separation/divorce. Raza and his new parents make an emergency return trip to Pakistan because his elderly father is hospitalised. Initially, Raza is determined to stay to care for his father but is convinced to return to England after the threat of being kidnapped/recruited into the Taliban by his older brothers becomes real. While Raza is in Pakistan, Finn's father is seriously injured during a patrol and is evacuated back to England. Ben's injuries include an amputated leg and an abdominal wound. Hanna flies to England but it's clear the marriage is over, causing Finn even more grief. Raza returns and joins the extended family as it comes to terms with Ben's injuries. There is a vivid paragraph in which Raza describes similar limb amputation injuries among Pakistani children and the reader can't help to make the obvious comparison between the massive resources available to foreign troops compared to what limited medical treatment the local children have available.
This was a difficult story to read. It was principally about the eventual breaking apart of Finn's family, but a far more interesting story of the destruction of poor Pakistani families and their culture by the war between the Taliban and western powers that overflows into Waziristan. The story, like the real situation in Afghanistan, was tipped heavily towards the story of Finn, his English life and his English family's response to Army life and Ben's injury.
The book is set in both Cornwall and the northwest tribal area of the Swat Valley and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. These are vividly colourful and vital places and I thought the writing didn't do either setting justice. The dialogue, almost all of which is between friends and family members, didn't flow as naturally as it would in real life. I enjoyed reading the story and was thoroughly engaged with the characters, but I thought the focus of the story was off-centre. The story seemed predominantly about Finn, his relationship with his family, Ben's injuries and the eventual break up of the marriage and family, when I thought a more compelling story was that of Raza leaving his mountains, travelling to bustling, dusty, edgy Peshawar, on to Rawalpindi and then to an utterly new and unexpected life in England.
www.books-and-beans.com
June 5, 2024
I’ve been giving myself a month or two after I initially read and rate a book to give myself some time to think about what comments I would like to make.
This book was a surprising read for me. I didn’t think I would enjoy it but the story of the two young boys Finn and Raza is utterly beautiful. Their friendship is pure and loyal, even when they come from backgrounds that should make them feel opposed to each other or natural enemies
I only have two faults for this book:
- I feel that Finn’s mother Hanna was written with a lot of malice that wasn’t deserved. Being a mum in the army is bloody tough and I understand as this story is written from her sons point of view there is going to be a lot of blame put on his mother for the separation (particularly when he idolises his father) but I wish there was more compassion shown for Hanna
- Not enough of Raza’s story, I wanted to hear more about Pakistan and more about Raza’s journey in dealing with such a huge cultural and social change moving to England.
It felt like the book was 75 per cent Finn and 25 per cent Raza and I would have preferred an even 50/50
This book was a surprising read for me. I didn’t think I would enjoy it but the story of the two young boys Finn and Raza is utterly beautiful. Their friendship is pure and loyal, even when they come from backgrounds that should make them feel opposed to each other or natural enemies
I only have two faults for this book:
- I feel that Finn’s mother Hanna was written with a lot of malice that wasn’t deserved. Being a mum in the army is bloody tough and I understand as this story is written from her sons point of view there is going to be a lot of blame put on his mother for the separation (particularly when he idolises his father) but I wish there was more compassion shown for Hanna
- Not enough of Raza’s story, I wanted to hear more about Pakistan and more about Raza’s journey in dealing with such a huge cultural and social change moving to England.
It felt like the book was 75 per cent Finn and 25 per cent Raza and I would have preferred an even 50/50
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2022
Heartfelt, heartwarming and heartwrenching all at the same time.
We watch the news, feel for our veterans, have thoughts and opinions on refugees and immigrants but this story takes us way beyond the news.
The reader is taken through thought provoking emotions on several levels and many different relationships which ultimately join under the vast umbrella of love. What is love how do we handle love and what can love withstand.
Then again the human aspect. How much can one person handle before succumbing or breaking.
We watch the news, feel for our veterans, have thoughts and opinions on refugees and immigrants but this story takes us way beyond the news.
The reader is taken through thought provoking emotions on several levels and many different relationships which ultimately join under the vast umbrella of love. What is love how do we handle love and what can love withstand.
Then again the human aspect. How much can one person handle before succumbing or breaking.
June 8, 2024
This author has some kind of vendetta or projection towards the mother. She is definitely not portrayed with any redeeming features.
Overall, I feel like this book could be a nice very young adult book, especially in introducing the differences in cultures, the fragility of life and the uselessness and damage a war can do to everyone. But the added, unnecessarily, sex talk ruined it. Could have been a great book about friendships.
A good book, if somewhat whitewashed.
Overall, I feel like this book could be a nice very young adult book, especially in introducing the differences in cultures, the fragility of life and the uselessness and damage a war can do to everyone. But the added, unnecessarily, sex talk ruined it. Could have been a great book about friendships.
A good book, if somewhat whitewashed.
February 20, 2023
What an emotional roller-coaster of a book. The characters were all so richly described that I really cared about them and their futures. The life of soldiers and their lives was very realistically portrayed and it was no surprise to realise that the author had real life experience of this. The only real downside for me was I would like to have heard more detail about Raza.
July 20, 2024
Despite a plot that deals with many heavy subjects - Afghanistan war, Taliban, divorce, injury and death, this was an easy and enjoyable read. The story revolves around the deep friendship that develops between two very different 12 year old boys. We first meet Raza who lives with his ageing father in the foothills of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, close to the Afghan border. The landscape is beautiful but harsh and life is a subsistence existence with little access to modern health or education facilities, a breeding ground for Taliban recruitment. Raza’s much older brothers are ruthless Taliban fighters. Samir, Raza’s father does not want a life of hate and violence for his youngest son so he makes the heart wrenching decision to send Raza away to England so that he will become an educated man who will be able to help Pakistan’s future. Raza fights this decision as he hero worships his brothers and loves his father and country deeply but reluctantly bows to his father’s wishes. Life in England proves torturous for Raza as he struggles to fit in and it isn’t until he moves to a smaller, more nurturing school in the Cornish countryside where he meets Finn that he finally finds his place. Finn’s father is an elite British army officer who is sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and whose mother is desperately unhappy with her life as an army wife. Both boys carry heavy loads on their shoulders but support each other through times of tragedy. Great descriptions of both rugged landscapes, Pakistan and the coast of Cornwall, as well as the culture clash between east and west. Heartwarming family interactions. Great story.
February 7, 2024
Read as the Feb book for the Book Grocer bookclub 2024
While it isn’t a book that I would normally have picked up, I did enjoy this book. There’s really beautiful descriptions of the many places that the characters travel or live and the author is able to paint a really beautiful picture.
I really liked the character’s relationships with each other and the way this was used to build the storyline. The way that the parallels and differences in Finn and Raza’s relationship are played out I thought was done very well and I loved this friendship that was built based on their shared worry of their fathers.
While I did enjoy the book, I found the change in narrator a little confusing at times. The narration sometimes switched mid chapter and I often had to go back to reread to see whose perspective we were listening to.
TW:
War, terrorism, death and serious injury, amputation, depression, PTSD
While it isn’t a book that I would normally have picked up, I did enjoy this book. There’s really beautiful descriptions of the many places that the characters travel or live and the author is able to paint a really beautiful picture.
I really liked the character’s relationships with each other and the way this was used to build the storyline. The way that the parallels and differences in Finn and Raza’s relationship are played out I thought was done very well and I loved this friendship that was built based on their shared worry of their fathers.
While I did enjoy the book, I found the change in narrator a little confusing at times. The narration sometimes switched mid chapter and I often had to go back to reread to see whose perspective we were listening to.
TW:
War, terrorism, death and serious injury, amputation, depression, PTSD
August 25, 2023
As a Pakistani-Canadian reading this book, Macdonald does such a justifiable job characterizing life in the East and West, and the culture shocks that happen when you are face to face with both sides. Seeing Finn and Raza’s growth throughout the book was such a treat - a very emotional journey too. Their friendship portrayed pure innocencr and strength and all the characters added so much more emotion to the story.
Although I felt it started a bit slow, it definitely adds to the plot about 25% through the book. I highly recommend this read if you are looking for a coming of age story to read and want to understand the challenges of an Easterner entering the West, as well as the beauty is accepting differences and challenges that we face in our lives.
Although I felt it started a bit slow, it definitely adds to the plot about 25% through the book. I highly recommend this read if you are looking for a coming of age story to read and want to understand the challenges of an Easterner entering the West, as well as the beauty is accepting differences and challenges that we face in our lives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2023
I enjoyed The Long Road from Kandahar by Sara MacDonald which is set mainly in an English boarding school, as well as, Pakistan during the British war with the Taliban. Raza’s father sends him to England with a couple who will “foster” him and ensure he gets an education. Finn’s father is an officer in the British force in Afghanistan. The boys become good friends. The author portrays these characters well and they are at the core of the story. Another lesson in the futility of war, as if we need one. 4½/5
March 13, 2024
I rate this book 4.5
What a beautifully written book. I still feel the emotion from this wonderful tale of war, love & strong family roots.
The story was so vivid and the characters were so rich and real. I particularly liked Delphi, she reminded me that a Mother's love is so rich and complex.
This book and style of writing have left a real impact on me. Thanks Sara, I'll definitely be reading more of your books in the future.
It is a book I would highly recommend to anyone.
What a beautifully written book. I still feel the emotion from this wonderful tale of war, love & strong family roots.
The story was so vivid and the characters were so rich and real. I particularly liked Delphi, she reminded me that a Mother's love is so rich and complex.
This book and style of writing have left a real impact on me. Thanks Sara, I'll definitely be reading more of your books in the future.
It is a book I would highly recommend to anyone.
June 11, 2024
Poignant and touching description of the raw emotions felt by families of servicemen, though some of the portrayals of the characters themselves feel a bit cliche and trite (re Raza being a Pashtun residing in the Swat Valley with brothers who are terrorists). Mixed feelings about the portrayal of Raza as someone who commits grammar errors in his speech - a constant reminder that he is foreign, or a constant attempt at orientalism even though he has received a scholarship
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2025
This book was so beautiful, and written in such a captivating, immersive way. It perfectly captures the feelings of two boys from different cultures working through the changes and challenges in their lives, while dealing with all the uncertainty that comes with being a teen. The storytelling also brought to life for me the wonderful Pakistani culture, which is bittersweet considering everything that has happened in that region since this book was written.
October 5, 2023
Really was drawn in by this book. Characters, influence, understanding. Two boys from completely different backgrounds, become true friends despite the difficulties encountered by each one. Highly recommended reading
May 3, 2024
This book really tugs on your heartstrings. Sara MacDonald beautifully captures the lasting and often devastating effects of war on both sides in her simple yet poignant words. I was tearing up at Raza's journey and Sara quite poignantly depicts the everlasting change in Raza and Finn's lives.
January 31, 2026
Gripping and very believable - Peshawar & the beauty of the Swat valley come alive. Narrative pendulum swinging back and forth between Cornwall and Pakistan works well. Very moving exploration of deep family emotions, and teenage angst in distressing times. Excellent book.
Read
August 30, 2022A bit
October 23, 2022
A good read, nice novel and lots of lessons can be learnt.
March 25, 2023
Beautiful story!
July 21, 2023
A wonderful book.
August 9, 2023
Excellent
September 9, 2023
Nice easy read…quite enjoyed it
December 11, 2023
What a marvellous read from beginning to end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews