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RIVERHEAD Trade Paperback June 2012
farishta
Patricia McArdle
978-1-59448-578-7 • $16.00/$17.00 Can.
Trade Paperback
416 pp./5 1/8” x 8”/Carton: 28/Fiction
Rights: W00
UK, Translation, Audio: Riverhead Books
Other: Author c/o Riverhead Books
Publishing History: Riverhead Hardcover
978-1-59448-796-5 (6/11)
EAN: 9781594485787 51600
On sale June 5, 2012
suggested order
Photo © Tisara
From a former female diplomat comes a
debut novel of modern Afghanistan.
Twenty-one years ago, diplomat Angela Morgan witnessed the death
of her husband during the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
Devastated by her loss, she fled back to America, where she hid in the
backwaters of the State Department and avoided the high-profile postings
that would advance her career. Now, with that career about to deadend,
she must take the one assignment available—at a remote British
army outpost in northern Afghanistan. Unwelcome among the soldiers
and unaccepted by the locals, Angela has to fight to earn the respect of
her colleagues, especially the enigmatic Mark Davies, a British major
who is by turns her staunchest ally and her fiercest critic. Frustrated at
her inability to contribute to the nation’s reconstruction, Angela slips
out of camp disguised in a burka to provide aid to the refugees in the
war-torn region. She becomes their farishta, or “angel,” in the local Dari
language—and discovers a new purpose for her life, a way to finally put
her grief behind her.
Drawing on the author’s experiences as a diplomat in Afghanistan,
Farishta is a deeply moving and fast-paced story of a woman struggling to
move beyond a past trauma, and finding a new community, a new love,
and a new sense of self in the process.
“Compelling...more than a book about one woman and her desire to
help Afghans find their own way.” —The Huffington Post
“McArdle writes insightfully about the quagmire in that country and the
human cost of war.” —Publishers Weekly
MARKETING
• East Coast media and in-store author appearances
• Tie in to author’s Penguin Speakers Bureau engagements
• Print features and reviews
• Online reviews and author interviews
• Reading group outreach
• Readers Guide available online
• “New in Paperback” mentions
SALES POINTS
• The hardcover edition received great reviews and media attention
Patricia McArdle is a retired American diplomat. During her career, she was
posted around the world, including northern Afghanistan.
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