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‘Noqra, the Kabul River Girl’: A feminist critique of patriarchy
By Rayhana Bayani, translated into English by Rustam Seerat
The novel “Noqra, the Kabul River Girl” by Homeira Qaderi is one of the prominent novels published before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Published in 2009 by Rozgar Publications in Tehran, it takes a female perspective as it focuses on the roles of women in addressing social, cultural, and political issues in Afghanistan. As well, the novel provides insights into the sensitive and tumultuous events spanning five decades of Afghanistan’s political history (1929 to 1978).
This novel is women-centred, reducing male characters to faint and peripheral roles. The narrator, Eqlima, is one of seven women in the book who are compelled by poverty and helplessness to work in the royal palace kitchen during the reign of King Nadir Shah. Eqlima is the daughter of Noqra, from her illegitimate relationship with a young soldier named Izmarai. Noqra had been expelled by her family due to the scandal of her romantic relationship with Izmarai and her pregnancy and finds refuge among the women of the palace kitchen who each have their own bitter and tragic past experiences.
Although the women work within the closed environment of the royal kitchen, they are aware of the world beyond the palace…
