The lovers -Rod Nordland

She is his Juliet and he is her Romeo, her family has vowed to kill them both.

This is the riveting and profoundly moving account of a young couple willing to risk everything for love.

Zakia is a Sunni, Mohammad Ali a Shia. As children growing up in the hinterlands of Afghanistan they played together, but as they grew older all contact was forbidden. By then Zakia, beautiful and opinionated, and Ali, shy and tender, had fallen in love.

Defying their families and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together. When New York Times journalist Rod Nordland first encountered them, they were hiding in the mountains, in fear for their lives.

The story of what happened next is told against the backdrop of a country's diverse culture, history and practices. Women in Afghanistan are subjected to some of the worst human rights violations in the world. Rod Nordland, at times a reluctant narrator, chronicles their uncertain plight and tells this heartrending story of courage and love.