Nadia Hashimi (she/her)
Zoyah MediaNadia Hashimi is a pediatrician turned internationally bestselling author who writes for adults and young readers. With translations in 17 languages, her novels center Afghan women for readers around the world. During Operation Allies Welcome, Nadia helped design and implement a psychosocial program for evacuated Afghans. Her writings have been featured in Ms Magazine, NPR, and Mother Jones. She serves on the boards of Sahar Education for Girls, Aschiana Foundation, the US Afghan Women’s Coalition, and was a founding board member of the Afghan-American Foundation.
Visit website | 
Communities: Asian American, Muslim
Books:
City of Widows
Fiction / Literature
William Morrow
July 2026
ISBN 9780063423541
Hardcover, 0 pages
"Bestselling novelist Nadia Hashimi returns with a spellbinding new novel all about the women of Afghanistan in the years since the Taliban regained power.
Gripping, occasionally terrifying, yet ultimately hopeful, this is a spectacular story by a popular writer at the height of her powers"-- Provided by publisher. More/less
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell
A Novel
Fiction / Literature
William Morrow Paperbacks
January 2015
ISBN 9780062244765
Paperback, 480 pages
Afghan-American Nadia Hashimi's literary debut novel is a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one's own fate that combines the cultural flavor and emotional resonance of the works of Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lisa See.
In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. As a son, she can attend school, go to the market, and chaperone her older sisters.But Rahima is not the first in her family to adopt this unusual custom. A century earlier, her great-great grandmother, Shekiba, left orphaned by an epidemic, saved herself and built a new life the same way.Crisscrossing in time, The Pearl the Broke Its Shell interweaves the tales of these two women separated by a century who share similar destinies. But what will happen once Rahima is of marriageable age? Will Shekiba always live as a man? And if Rahima cannot adapt to life as a bride, how will she survive? More/less
