The Broken Circle

A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan

By: Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller

Narrated by: Lameece Issaq

Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

An emotional and sweeping memoir of love and survival - and of a committed and desperate family uprooted and divided by the violent, changing landscape of Afghanistan in the early 1980s.

Before the Soviet invasion of 1980, Enjeela Ahmadi remembers her home - Kabul, Afghanistan - as peaceful, prosperous, and filled with people from all walks of life. But after her mother, unsettled by growing political unrest, leaves for medical treatment in India, the civil war intensifies, changing young Enjeela’s life forever. Amid the rumble of invading Soviet tanks, Enjeela and her family are thrust into chaos and fear when it becomes clear that her mother will not be coming home.

Thus begins an epic, reckless, and terrifying five-year journey of escape for Enjeela, her siblings, and their father to reconnect with her mother. In navigating the dangers ahead of them, and in looking back at the wilderness of her homeland, Enjeela discovers the spiritual and physical strength to find hope in the most desperate of circumstances.

A heart-stopping memoir of a girl shaken by the brutalities of war and empowered by the will to survive, The Broken Circle brilliantly illustrates that family is not defined by the borders of a country but by the bonds of the heart.

©2019 Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Poems by Hafiz translated into English by the author.

Critic reviews

“Full of vivid detail and emotion, this compelling memoir captures the ache of a young child desperate for safety and security.” (Kirkus Reviews)

worth the time to listen

it is a well written story of escape from Afganistan. we can never bvb really know what they endured

Wonderful Story!

I really loved this story, from start to finish! It centered around a very strong family who faced unbelievable hardships, to escape a war-torn Afghanistan. I loved all of the characters, and it was very well-written! The narrator did a fantastic job! A+++

Amazing story

This is an amazing story. It will keep you listening.

I didn't like the ending though and I was close to giving it 3 stars but I decided that it's worth more. I believe the author could have spent another chapter to summarize the remaining of her life's journey. This leads me to believe there might be a second book in the works.

Hidden treasure

I was unsure of this book when I started but I’m so glad I got it and listened. The performance was wonderfully done and the story is incredible. I thought I knew the history of the USSR in Afghanistan but I did not. Not only is this a great story about survival but it’s also about how family can make all the difference in the world.
There are a lot of lessons to learn in this story. I know that I probably missed some & will need to listen again to it.

some things I'd change; still very worth my time

I'm glad I got to experience this book. It gave me insight into cultures and a slice of history that I feel my education did a woefully inadequate job of exposing me to, and there were moments of remarkable beauty and poignancy that really moved me. At times the story felt like it wanted for editing. Enjeelah would go back and forth between opposing ideas without any acknowledgement that this was happening. It MIGHT have been intentional--showing the ways our desires and hopes and opinions can vascillate between wildly different extremes--but to me it didn't feel intentional, it felt somewhat disorganized. The ending also felt a little half-baked, like the author got tired of telling the story and just cut it off abruptly with some cliches about things eventually working out. Even if she didn't detail the journey to America, it would have been nice to at the very least flash back to the scene from the first chapter and remind us of where she is now, reflect on how the memories of her childhood and this harrowing journey fit into her identity in America as an adult, etc. I had been looking forward to such a reflection the entire book and it just never came. I also didn't love the narrator, I found she paused or drew out words in a way that felt very random and strange, and I kind of wish I had read this instead of listening to it. Despite this negativity though I do have to say I enjoyed the book and am really glad I got to experience it as the title of my review says. I'm looking forward forward learning more about this time/place in history.

A special family.

I did not feel this was indicative of the normal people fleeing Afghanistan. They had money to fund their trip.

Book ok; irritating pronunciation errors

Narrator should have checked her pronunciations.
Examples: Zuleikha, Peshawar, Mujahideen (pronounced as muhajideen in half the narration), even plait!

the emotions were so realistic in the story

The story kept me guessing and I loved hearing the emotions and feelings of the narrator

Definitely Not a Favorite Reader

Struggled to finish. might have enjoyed more if I had read in book format. The reader's performance was too lilting and "sing song" for such a serious subject. it was all I could do to make myself finish the book.

The Broken Circle is a must-listen!

First of all, sometimes the voice of the reader can make or break an audiobook. This woman who performed the book was spectacular. The story was so good. You really got to know the characters and you care for this young girl who saw the world through such innocent eyes. I loved her telling of it. I also appreciated that it told just enough for you to understand the hardships but not so much that it wouldn’t be appropriate for younger audiences. I also liked that it was clean with only the slightest bit of cussing toward the end. I appreciated learning a little bit more about Afghanistan, India, Hindus, and Muslims. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age.