Three Women of Herat: Afghanistan, 1973–77

By Veronica Doubleday

It’s Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, and Veronica Doubleday and her husband settle in Herat, where John is planning to study the local musical tradition. Veronica makes friends with three very different young women, slowly immersing herself in the unfamiliar world of Herati female culture. Although constrained by tradition, these women are far from submissive, each skilfully exerting influence in the management of their lives. They welcome Veronica into their homes and include her in family events and celebrations. It’s a world of intense friendships, music-making, support and laughter, as well as illness, hardship and sadness. Veronica inhabits their world without judgement, even wearing a veil herself, and gives us rare, deep and privileged access to a hidden realm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eland Publishing
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781780602080

Veronica Doubleday

Born in Kent in 1948, Veronica Doubleday studied literature at the University of Sussex and then went to live in Iran and Afghanistan with her husband the ethnomusicologist John Baily. She is an author, musician and academic, recognised as a tradition-bearer and specialist in Afghan women’s music. With her own unique repertoire of Afghan songs, Veronica continues to perform on concert stages and in private gatherings, accompanied by John and sometimes with other noted musicians. In 2014 she and John were invited by the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul to serve as teachers and performers of traditional Afghan music. Since the advent of the Taliban to power in 2021, they have given several fund-raising concerts to support urgent charitable causes. Veronica lives with John in Brighton by the sea, in a house filled with Afghan instruments and artefacts and a library of music and books. Drawing on many years of research, she is currently completing a book about the culture, meaning and symbolism of musical instruments.