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)  

Take heed

This book should be required reading for all Americans. From the perspective of what some go through to become American’s while God blessed us by being born in this country, that we all too often take for granted. More importantly how, if we allow our government to be taken over by any specific interest such as extreme ideals or morals of communism, fascism, Religious fundamentalism, etc. all that has been built can be lost far too quickly. It can begin with the smallest of things and then grow into a wave impossible to stop as it did in Germany and Italy causing WWII, and as this book indicates Afghanistan, Iran and other parts of the world today. Germans didn’t think it could happen there, Afghans didn’t think it could happen there, we American’s don’t think it can happen here; but, it can, it has and it will if we do not fight to maintain our constitutional rights and governmental balance of power as defined by our founding fathers.

If you like stories told by a 7 year old...

the narrator is the only thing that kept me going until chapter 12. the story itself was interesting up until chapter 11. then the fantasies and wild tales told by 7 year old girl took over and ruined the entire story. I gave up and stopped listening. somehow she stared down a wolf just a few feet away from her and their souls touched. next she wanders into a cave and found her way to the deep back of the cave and finds a clear pool of water which she swims in. next she's on the hunt with her pocket knife looking for scorpions and killing them left and right and sticking them in a jar of magic scorpion medicine. just too unbelievable. she is a rich, spoiled, whiny, disobedient, Brat who constantly put herself and her family in danger because of her immaturity and disobedience. an alcoholic father and a mother who just takes one child and leaves for India. very hard to believe that this is a true story.

Immigrants

What courage and resiliance for such a small child to go through to escape a bad government. It shows that any family can have great love for each other.

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.

A must Listen!

A glimpse into the past of a country, and a family, with a much needed lesson in humanity, grit, and family.

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.

inspired me to learn

good family dynamics, interesting "quest", inspired me to learn more about the history of the area.

The Afghanistan You Never Knew

This is one of the most touching and yet hard-to-listen-to books I've ever come across, a contrast of the utmost, bringing to the forefront an Afghanistan that most of the western world really doesn't know ever existed. One of culture, music, art and learning to rival the best in the civilized world, juxtaposed against the most primitive and brutal customs and treatment of its own people that can be imagined. A natural environment of breathtaking beauty and harsh ruggedness that bring both fear and awe to those who travel through it. This story of a close -knit family during the 1970s and leading up to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR tells of lives of freedom, joy and fun . . . until it abruptly stopped. The months and years following tell what an entire family would do . . . indeed DID to regain freedom . . . and escape from the hell that came to their beloved country . . . it is an ugly tale, that everyone who has ever valued freedom needs to listen to . . . This book is etched into my memory . . .

Disappointed with the end

It is an interesting story about her escape from Afghanistan. The family dynamics are dealt with very superficially, which left me feeling dissatisfied with the ending.

Great!

Couldn’t put it down, the story is fascinating and very easy to follow. Enjeela’s adventures were believable and difficult for a young girl and her family in the midst of political upheaval.

Really enjoyed this book.

I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I felt quite drawn into it. It wasn’t too heavy. It does make you understand a little of what the Afghanistan’s people have had to endure. Obviously this merely scrapes the surface. But it certainly taught me more than I already knew and I am always grateful to learn.

Fascinating.

Incredible and extraordinary. Illuminating and heart wrenching to gain even an insight into the trauma, tragedy and tremendous strength and courage of refugees of war torn countries, whether people are from, what ever colour they are. The suffering is intense and the stories deserve to be heard, respected and received with equal kindness.

A family's journey to freedom

This was such an interesting book but I have a sneaking suspicion that I would have found it harder going if I had been reading it instead of listening to it as an audio book.
A wonderful tale of escape from Kabul where the family lived in Afghanistan, to a final destination in New Delhi, India where their mother had departed to even earlier with 2 of the children as she was in bad health and in need of heart surgery. Of course once she had left, she did not return but set about making a home ready for the rest of the family when, after a gruelling escape of the children, without their father would finally come to India to be with her and their siblings.
It was years before they saw one another again. Initially, the father did not want to leave his homeland understandably, as he had a wonderful job at the embassy, beautiful home and a land he loved but after a time, especially once the Russians entered the country, he knew he had to get his children out but he knew he was being watched and so arranged for the children to be carried out with a trusted guide to Pakistan where they were to wait for him to come to them at a certain hotel. Which took 6 months of them being on their own without him.
This book is mainly the story of their journey there and on to India once their father arrives and all the trials, wonders and mishaps along the way.
An incredible tale of human endurance.