brokebookmountain’s Reviews > My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women > Status Update

First story - Companion by Maryam Mahjoba, 3.75 stars. A rumination on the anxiety of an old Afghan woman living in Afghanistan, while her children and even her husband are no longer in the country. She ties the knots of her hijab tighter, hides the cigarettes she buys, and cooks a meal for herself. Meanwhile, she gets ever more envious of the people who left the country. A bleak, yet desperately hopeful story.