Lailoma Shahwali and Cindy Miller: The Alterations Lady

Cindy Miller discusses her new book in conversation with Lailoma Shahwali, about Shahwali's life in Afghanistan and her journey to America.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Two women. One exhilarating story of displacement and perseverance in the face of extremism. What happens when we take the time to listen?

When the journalist Cindy Miller met Lailoma Shahwali, who was altering her daughter's wedding dress, she assumed their interactions would be brief. But in Lailoma she found not just a seamstress, but a survivor who would open up about her remarkable experiences in her native Afghanistan. In recollections shared over warm tea with cardamom, frozen walnuts, and mulberries, Lailoma offers both an entry into a colorful pre-Taliban Afghanistan, where, despite being a girl, she pursued an education and worked toward becoming a doctor, as well as a stark portrait of what came next, when the Taliban seized her beloved country, stripped her of her hard-won rights, terrorized her family, and brutally murdered her husband.

A breathtaking account of triumph against all odds, Lailoma's fight to protect her young son and support her family takes them on a dangerous mountain escape into Pakistan and then to the United States in search of sanctuary and opportunity. Here, her navigation of a complicated immigration system and her pursuit of the elusive American dream is both highly personal and a timeless account of the experiences of refugees everywhere. Beautifully detailed and strikingly told, The Alterations Lady is a poignant reminder of the possibilities offered by a nation of immigrants and a call to hear the stories of our neighbors, the unsung heroes we interact with every day.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cindy Miller is a writer and editor who has worked in newspaper and magazine publishing for twenty-eight years. Cindy edited Arizona Woman magazine and the Arizona Woman Who's Who in Business, was the founding editor of the award-winning AZ Society magazine and the Red Book Magazine, and has written and edited for the Arizona Republic. Her high-profile interviews have included Senator John McCain, Governor Janet Napolitano, Madeleine Albright, several top athletes, and the philanthropist Mavis Leno as she was spearheading the movement to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Cindy lives in Scottsdale, AZ.
Lailoma Shahwali was born in Afghanistan and emigrated to the United States in 2000, supporting herself and her son through her work in clothing alterations. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

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