“I felt connected to the street girls, as if our silent smiles spoke a thousand words between us.”

Sometimes painful and at other times shocking, On the Edge of Being is still hopeful. The daughter of a progressive Afghan governor, author Sharifa Sharif observes from an early age that life for women — both within and beyond the walls of her home — is neither simple nor fair. The world that Afghan women inhabit in her memoir illuminates the split between body and voice — a split that has wrought a devastating impact on the women of Afghanistan.

Dr. Sharifa Sharif was born and raised in Afghanistan, where she and her family lived in many urban and rural areas. Dr. Sharif studied Pashto literature in Kabul and later, comparative literature in the United States, where she became immersed in learning about feminism, justice and freedom. Since then she has become a dual Afghan-Canadian citizen and has worked as a teacher, counsellor for abused women, cultural advisor, radio host, and politician. Now living near Toronto, Dr. Sharif works as a journalist and community activist.

Sharifa Sharif's profile page

"Dr. Sharifa Sharif takes us on a journey of pain and resilience, inviting us into the beauty of Afghanistan, the violence that is a daily part of too many lives and the strength of those who have survived more than anyone should ever have to. Dr. Sharif is to be commended for her courage, her honesty and for continuing to put one foot in front of the other in a world that would have her and so many of her sisters go quietly away. This book reminds us that we can— and need to— do better." Deborah Ellis, feminist, peace activist, and award-winning author of The Breadwinner

"Sharif is a gifted storyteller, giving powerful firsthand accounts from the experience of women in remote rural provinces of Afghanistan. With both eloquence and humour, Sharif painstakingly recounts in her acute observations the complex, aggrieved and storied culture she was born into and still loves.” Dr. Lauryn Oates, Executive Director of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan