Some books entertain you. Some books change the way you see the world. City of Widows is firmly in the second category, and I think it’s one of the most important reads on this list.
Nadia Hashimi, a pediatrician and daughter of Afghan immigrants, has spent her career giving voice to Afghan women in fiction. This novel focuses on the years since the Taliban regained power in 2021, following a generation of women who had grown up with a measure of freedom: women who had been soldiers, journalists, broadcasters, professionals. Then everything changed.
Three women sit at the center of the story. Marjan, who fought in the Afghan army and will do anything to protect her daughter. Soraya, who led an all-female combat unit and is now a wanted woman. Mina, a journalist whose face is known across Kabul and who can no longer show it. Fight, flee, or find a third way: none of these women intend to quietly disappear.
Hashimi writes with precision and deep humanity. The world she builds feels utterly real because it is — rooted in history and lived experience rather than imagination. The novel is occasionally terrifying and at times almost unbearable, because the stakes are genuine. But it is also, ultimately, a story about resistance and reinvention, and there is real hope threaded through every page.
This is not a light summer read, and I want to be clear about that. If you’re looking for something breezy, come back to this one in the fall. But if you want something that will stay with you and send you back to the news with different eyes, this is the one.
City of Widows publishes July 28, 2026.
