"To make a complete catalogue of the
misinformation which the rug fraternity hand on from one to another would need
'a painful man with his pen, and as much patience as he who wrote the Lives and
Deaths of the Martyrs.'" H.
G. Dwight. Persian Miniatures. 1912
I've often been told that I should write a book about our travels in Afghanistan. I did, a long time ago, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. An editor who looked at the manuscript told me that my trouble was verisimilitude - I'm too fond of accuracy and the truth. I needed, she told me, to learn to lie. What she was telling me that the book was boring, and she was right.
The point of this story is that even when writing fiction I'm still fond of accuracy and the truth, although I hope that I've got beyond boring. I'm concerned that the people and events in Afghanistan described in The Body in the Bokhara might seem unlikely, too much of a fiction, but they're all based on real people and events. The political events described did not happen in 1935 (to the best of my knowledge) but they do reflect what happened in Afghanistan in 1974 and 1978-79. Zahir, the King of Afghanistan in 1935, was still the king in 1974. The rug and tea dealers are all versions of people that I've known. And business is still done on a handshake.
A Journey through Afghanistan 1972-2015:
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| That's me on the left, west of Bamian, 1972. |
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| Coup, 1978 |
Some sources for The Body in the Bokhara:
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| Chaikhana (teahouse), north of Kabul, 1972 |
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| Kunduz, Afghanistan, 1975 |
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| Kabul, 1975. |
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| Troubadour, story teller, 1977. |
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| Lunch |
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| In the old rug bazaar. |
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| In the museum, Peshawar. |
