Veiled Freedom: My Review

Veiled Freedom is the story of Amy, a young idealistic woman who has moved to Afganistan to run a charity devoted to helping women and children. When she gets there she finds out she isn't taking over an established program, but rather, starting one. She decides to create a home and school for women who have been released from prison, and for their children, who were there with them. Most of these women were imprisoned for morals offenses, like appearing in public without an escort. She becomes friends with Steve, an American ex-soldier who is working for a private contractor which is providing security for the Minister of the Interior, the most powerful Afgahn official.

While Amy is a Christian, overt missionary activity is forbidden. However, she tells Old Testament stories to the children she serves. She gives a New Testament to an employee and part of the story is his conversion story.

The book is Christian fiction and it paints a very poor picture of Islam, and since I'm not an expert, I can't say if it is true or not. As mentioned, the conversion of one character to Christianity from Islam is a significant part of the story. There is a mystery character in the book, but I figured out pretty early on who he was.

This wasn't a great book, but it wasn't a bad one either. If you are interested in what it is like to live as an American in Afghanistan, you'll probably like this book, but realize that Islam is presented poorly and Christianity well--though Amy admits that many who call themselves Christian don't live that way.