The Vanishing Girl of Kabul: Betrayal, Hope and an Extraordinary Fight for Women’s Rights

Zahra Joya

Amie Ferris-Rotman

'A memoir that doubles as a warning. Zahra Joya writes for the women the world abandoned to the Taliban's brutal gender apartheid - and refuses to let us forget them... [she] is one of the bravest journalists of our time' Malala Yousafzai

'Beautifully written and powerfully told. Joya's story will leave you angry, but also awed that in this painful history there's still profound hope. An impressive memoir of a truly inspiring individual' Lyse Doucet, author of The Finest Hotel in Kabul

'A brave and beautiful book which touches the soul, the heart and the mind' Sandi Toksvig

'Joya writes with great insight and compassion about Afghanistan's girls and women. This book is a unique and compelling account of refusing to be silenced or erased. It is about extraordinary courage and refusing to submit to oppression. Above all it is about hope and optimism, and one woman's fight for freedom' Sir Laurie Bristow, Former British ambassador to Afghanistan

A powerful and poignant memoir about growing up female in Afghanistan, being betrayed by a world that promised to protect women's rights and how these rights are under threat across the world.

When the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, Zahra Joya disguised herself as a boy simply to attend school. After the US-led invasion, her world transformed. Education, opportunity and freedom flourished. Like many Afghans, Zahra dared to believe in a future. She became a journalist and established her own media company to tell the stories of Afghan women.

Then, in 2021, the Taliban returned. Decades of hard-won progress vanished overnight. Women were erased from public life once again, and the promises made by the West collapsed into silence.

The Vanishing Girl of Kabul is Zahra's powerful story of betrayal, survival and resistance. Co-written with award-winning journalist, Amie Ferris-Rotman, a longtime friend of both Zahra and Afghanistan, this book blends the intimacy of memoir with the urgency of investigative reporting, exposing the brutal realities of gender-based oppression - not only in Afghanistan, but around the world.

Now living in exile in London, Zahra refuses to be silent. This book is her clarion call, a warning to a world too willing to look away.