The Darling of Kandahar
2012
A young woman poses for the cover of a magazine. A Canadian solder serving in Kandahar fells in love with her photograph and sends her an email. The Darling of Kandahar tells an astonishing story of love, loss, and displacement against the background of the war in Afghanistan, of the founding of the city of Montreal – and a city now crowded with immigrants.
When Felicia Mihali’s first novel appeared in French in 2002, it was compared to Marie-Claire Blaise’s masterpiece A season in the life of Emmanuel. Making her English-language debut with The Darling of Kandahar, Mihali now joins Nancy Huston as one of the few writers working in English as well as French.
Praise for Felicia Mihali
You feel like thanking Felicia Mihali for moving here from her native Romania. Her first novel is an unexpected gift. – Le Devoir (2002)
Mihali is one of the writers from different backgrounds who have been transforming our literature since the end of the 20th century. — Eloise A. Brière, Canadian Literature (2008)
Felicia Mihali must now be considered one of Canada’s major writers. — Espace Canoë, 2008.