Lie Down with Lions (1985)

This was what she had been waiting for. “Official,” she said, as if she did not understand.

“Yes,” he said awkwardly. “I mean we could get married. If you want.”

She laughed with pleasure. “Do it right, Ellis!” she said. “Propose!”

He took her hand. “Jane, my dear, I love you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes!” she said. “As soon as possible! Tomorrow! Today!”

“Thank you,” he said.

She leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, too.”

They sat in silence then, holding hands and watching the sun go down. It was funny, Jane thought, but Afghanistan seemed unreal now, like a bad dream, vivid but no longer frightening. She remembered the people well enough—Abdullah the mullah and Rabia the midwife, handsome Mohammed and sensual Zahara and loyal Fara—but the bombs and the helicopters, the fear and the hardship, were fading from her memory. This was the real adventure, she felt: getting married and bringing up Chantal and making the world a better place for her to live in.

“Shall we go?” said Ellis.

“Yes.” She gave his hand a final squeeze, then let it go. “We’ve got a lot to do.”

He started the car and they drove back into the city.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following are books about Afghanistan by writers who have visited the country since the Soviet invasion of 1979:

Chaliand, Gerard: Report from Afghanistan (New York: Penguin, 1982).

Fullerton, John: The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan (London: Methuen, 1984).

Gall, Sandy: Behind Russian Lines (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1983).

Martin, Mike: Afghanistan: Inside a Rebel Stronghold (Poole, England: Blandford Press, 1984).

Ryan, Nigel: A Hitch or Two in Afghanistan (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983).

Van Dyk, Jere: In Afghanistan (New York: Coward-McCann, 1983).

The standard reference book on Afghanistan is: Dupree, Louis: Afghanistan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980).

On women and children I recommend the following: Bailleau Lajoinie, Simone: Conditions de Femmes en Afghanistan (Paris: Editions Sociales, 1980). Hunte, Pamela Anne: The Sociocultural Context of Perinatality in Afghanistan (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1984). Van Oudenhoven, Nico J. A.: Common Afghan Street Games (Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger, 1979).

The classic travel book on the Panisher Valley and Nuristan is: Newby, Eric: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (London: Secker & War-burg, 1958).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ken Follett is the international bestselling

author of suspense thrillers and the nonfiction

On Wings of Eagles. He lives in England.

Visit Ken Follett’s official Web site at

www.ken-follett.com.