Let Her Fly: A Father’s Journey

Yousafzai, father of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, movingly tells his life story, focusing primarily on his journey from the Swat Mountains of Northwest Pakistan to Birmingham, England to protect his daughter. Rather than tell his own life story from childhood to fatherhood and beyond, Yousafzai divides it into sections focused on relationships: father, sons, wife and best friend, and daughter. This could be somewhat disorienting for readers less familiar with the history of the Taliban or his family’s story (particularly the Taliban’s attempted murder of Malala and his subsequent activism). The memoir also operates as a letter of fatherly pride to Malala, as well as a description of how she and his wife, Toor Pekai, formed Yousafzai’s strong advocacy for women’s empowerment and feminism.“I only came to know the word feminist after living in the U.K.,” he writes. “For more than forty years, I was living that word but not hearing it.” Those interested in learning more about Malala’s incredible life will be enriched by her father’s deeply personal account of courage and perseverance during a life of activism. [em](Nov.) [/em]