Niki’s Honor

Book excerpt: “Niki’s Honor” is a tragic and powerful story about an innocent victim of “honor killing” practices and the family she seeks to protect. Based on actual events still occurring in many parts of the world, this book reveals the realities of these unspeakable acts committed against girls and women, and usually carried out by their own family members. In a Soviet occupied country, Niki, a beautiful young rural Pashtun village girl, becomes entangled in a series of events that brings an end to her fairy tale dreams. She becomes a casualty of a culture where a family’s honor and pride is more precious than life itself. Suffering in silence, Niki endures great pain and humiliation, yet still refuses to reveal her personal secret, saving her family and particularly her mother from further disgrace. She is engaged at the age of nine to the handsome fifteen year old son of a Khan. They eventually fall in love. Her secret is only shared with him. She committed no crime, but carries the full weight of a heinous act done by another. In “Niki’s Honor” a horrific and cruel subject is shockingly presented. The author, growing up in Afghanistan and knowing its rich history, traditions, and customs, adds a unique and eloquent voice to Niki’s story. Soul searching and provocative this is a story needing to be heard. The story of this poor but beautiful young village girl will have a memorable and lasting effect on you.