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    Under An Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity
    Under An Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity
    Under An Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity
    Ebook445 pages8 hours

    Under An Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity

    By Mellissa Fung

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In October 2008, Mellissa Fung, a long-time reporter for CBC’s The National, was leaving a refugee camp outside of Kabul. Suddenly, she was grabbed by armed men claiming to be Taliban, stabbed, stuffed into the back of a car and driven off into the desert. When the group finally reached a village in the middle of nowhere, her kidnappers pushed her towards a hole in the ground. For twenty-eight days, Mellissa Fung lived in that hole, which was barely big enough to stand up or lie down in, nursing her injuries, praying, writing in her notebook and, as a veteran journalist, interrogating her own captors. Under an Afghan Sky is the gripping tale of Fung’s days in captivity, and a powerful book about survival and the indomitable spirit of one woman in the most perilous of circumstances.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 3, 2011
    ISBN9781443408264
    Under An Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity
    Author

    Mellissa Fung

    MELLISSA FUNG is a veteran journalist, bestselling author and filmmaker. In 2008, as a field correspondent covering Afghanistan for the CBC, she was taken hostage, an experience that led to her #1 bestselling book Under an Afghan Sky. Her story, and those of three Nigerian girls, were the subject of her first feature documentary, Captive, which premiered in 2021 and has been nominated for several major awards. Since leaving the network, Fung has focused on human rights reporting. Her work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, the Huffington Post, the Walrus and the Toronto Star, and on Al Jazeera, CNN, PBS and in other media. She has received numerous awards, including the Gracie Award, a Commonwealth Broadcasting Association award and the New York Festivals Gold and Silver Awards. Fung holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

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    Reviews for Under An Afghan Sky

    3.5/5

    17 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Melissa Fung, a journalist working for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, was on her second assignment to war-torn Afghanistan when she was seized by armed men as she was leaving a refugee camp where she had been reporting on conditions. Stabbed, blindfolded and eventually thrown into an underground bunker, her ordeal was to last 39 days before she was freed. Under An Afghan Sky is her vivid portrayal of her time in captivity.My admiration of this woman grew as I turned the pages and read of her experiences. Never losing her inner spirit, she spends her days with her captors in this underground hole, existing mostly on cookies and juice, her time is spent reflecting on her life, praying and establishing bonds with her kidnappers. She is allowed access to her notebook and a pen, and I believe the ability to write kept her hopeful and balanced. Through her, we see these men, not as criminals and terrorists but as victims of the war, dealing with poverty and religious extremes.I found Under an Afghan Sky a complete page-turner. Her story of being taken hostage made for a harrowing story, but most importantly, her sense of dignity and strength of purpose was inspiring.
    • 3/5
      It was interesting to read about her month long captivity, and the reasoning and mentality of her captors; but for a journalist, I found her writing ability to be poor and very repetitive Still not the worst book I've ever read.

    Book preview

    Under An Afghan Sky - Mellissa Fung

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