Under the Almond Tree

Laura McVeigh

If you lost everything you loved, how would you survive and begin again? Under the Almond Tree tells the story of one refugee family fleeing conflict and war in Afghanistan in the 1990s as they travel towards freedom and safety.

Fifteen year old Samar, the middle child, shares the story of her incredible journey on the Trans-Siberian Express - with the help of Napoleon, the Ticket Collector, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and her parents and siblings. Forced to flee Kabul as the Russians, then the Taliban, turn their lives inside out, the children and their parents face the loss of their world and their place in it.
Throughout, our storyteller Samar bravely holds onto family and hope, often when all survival seems impossible. With the true strength that comes from love, learning and imagination, Samar reveals her extraordinary resilience and the discovery that anything may be possible - if you can just hold on to hope and love.

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