The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul

After hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home--in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. There, the thirty-eight-year-old serves up her American hospitality to the expats who patronize her coffee shop, including a British journalist, a "danger pay" consultant, and a wealthy and well-connected woman. True to her name, Sunny also bonds with people whose language and landscape are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but whose hearts and souls are very much like our own: the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son; and Yazmina, a young Afghan villager with a secret that could put everyone's life in jeopardy. In this gorgeous first novel, "New York Times" bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez uses her own experience and insight to paint a stirring portrait of a faraway place where--even in the fog of political and social conflict--friendship, passion, and hope still exist. Originally published as "A Cup of Friendship" Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more. RandomHouseReadersCircle.com