All We Leave Behind

A Reporter's Journey into the Lives of Others

By: Carol Off

Narrated by: Carol Off

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

An incredible work of non-fiction that reads like a thriller, All We Leave Behind is the true story of a family fleeing the death sentence of a ruthless warlord, written by the journalist who broke all her own rules to get them to safety.  

In 2002, Carol Off and a CBC TV crew encountered an Afghan man with a story to tell. Asad Aryubwal became a key figure in their documentary on the terrible power of thuggish warlords who were working arm in arm with Americans and NATO troops. When Asad publicly exposed the deeds of one of the warlords, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, it set off a chain of events from which there was no turning back. Asad, his wife, Mobina, and their five children had to flee their home.

The family faced an uncertain future. But their dilemma compelled a journalist to cross the lines of disinterested reporting and become deeply involved. Together, they navigated the Byzantine international bureaucracy and the decidedly unwelcoming policies of Stephen Harper's government until the family finally found a new home.

Carol Off's powerful account traces not only one family's journey and fraught attempts to immigrate to a safe place; it also illustrates what happens when a journalist becomes irrevocably caught up in the lives of the people in her story and finds herself unable to leave them behind.

©2017 Carol Off (P)2017 Penguin Random House Canada

Critic reviews

Winner of the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
Finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
Finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-fiction
Finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction  

"[C]aptivating prose and painful honesty.... Off has pulled off the veil and ignited a conversation about the moral obligation of journalists in the field.” (Winnipeg Free Press)

"[Off] deftly weaves together a taut narrative that shuttles from a history of politics in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan to episodes as a foreign correspondent covering Canadian forces in Kandahar.... Throughout the book, Off struggles with the moral imperative behind her profession.... The journalist’s best day may be someone else’s worst.... All We Leave Behind is a fascinating tale about how one reporter’s request turns an extraordinary family’s life upside down, combined with a cogent examination of her own attempt to hold on to her humanity.” (Quill & Quire)

“[R]iveting.... [All We Leave Behind] is at once history lesson, political-science course, biography and scathing indictment of both Canada’s and the United Nations’s refugee programs.” (The Collection)

Quite a journey

I have been listening to Carol Off for years so when her book arrived I was happy to read. Her experience is vast but this account gives me more details into her reporting life and a reporters effect on her subjects. Very well done. I’ll continue anew to listen. Thanks.

Gripping history of North American involvement in Afghanistan and how people were impacted.

A deep dive into the historical and sociological factors that brought us world shaping events including 9/11 and how one family who spoke up for truth, faced suffering. In this time of millions trapped on the refugee highway, this book is important reading to inform global and personal compassion. Well done by a Canadian journalistic icon, Carol Off.