my review of the novel Farewell, Four Waters by Kate McCord

Farewell, Four Waters by Kate McCord
   I have read the author's previous two books- In the Land of the Blue Burqas, and Why God Calls Us To Dangerous Places- and was fascinated by her activities in Afghanistan. I was interested in reading Farewell, Four Waters which is the author's fictional account of her own and others' experiences in Afghanistan. This is slightly longer chapter book but I was interested for the entirety. The reader will learn a wonderful amount about life in Afghanistan just from reading this novel. The characters are very real which makes sense since the author based it off of her own experiences. I was a little disappointed by how quickly the end culminated after I spend the entire book wondering when the intrigue and suspense in the book would begin. I will point out that this book is not a suspense novel for light reading. It is an informative novel which will open the reader's eyes to life in Afghanistan, particularly of an American's life in that country.

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All she needed were stamps and signatures. Marie and her translator stood in the government offices in Kabul, Afghanistan, to complete the paperwork for her new literacy project. The women in her home town, the northern village of Shehktan, would learn to read.

But a spattering of gun shots exploded and an aid worker crumpled. Executed. On the streets of Kabul. Just blocks from the guesthouse. Sending shockwaves through the community.

The foreign personnel assessed their options and some, including Marie’s closest friend, Carolyn, chose to leave the country. Marie and others faced the cost and elected to press forward. But the execution of the lone aid worker was just the beginning.

When she returned home to her Afghan friends in Shehktan to begin classes, she felt eyes watching her, piercing through her scarf as she walked the streets lined in mud brick walls.

And in the end . . .
It took only 14 days for her project, her Afghan home, her community—all of it—to evaporate in an eruption of dust, grief, and loss. Betrayed by someone she trusted. Caught in a feud she knew nothing about, and having loved people on both sides, Marie struggled for the answer: How could God be present here, working here, in the soul of Afghanistan?