"You might expect people who go to live and work in war zones to be thick-skinned types for whom flak jackets and rocket fire are water off a duck's back. Not me," writes Marianne Elliot in Zen Under Fire, her candid and moving account of more than two years as a United Nations human rights officer in war-ravaged Afghanistan. A lawyer ordered to observe and follow the rules of UN protocol, Elliot discovers her dream job is not an easy assignment as she struggles with the "Sisyphean task" of documenting hundreds of cases of injustices "that keep vulnerable Afghan people from getting out of poverty and fear."
Security risks are rampant as tribes clash and rockets destroy lives and families, adding tension to battles that go back generations. Elliot's frustration over the rules ensuring monetary aid and food, blankets and shelter get to the right people is apparent. She's overwhelmed by the stories of torture, beatings and executions of innocent villagers and suffers from increasing anxiety and depression.
Over time, however, Elliot learns to navigate the slow-moving political and humanitarian machinery as the Afghans do--with patience. She turns to yoga and Buddhism to help calm her inner fears and her desperate need for contact and emotional closeness with her boyfriend. Readers gain access to behind-the-scenes moments in the lives of the Afghanis who befriend Elliot, as they help her navigate the dusty streets of the small villages where she works. Zen Under Fire is a stark and valuable glimpse into one humanitarian's effort to bring peace to the Afghan people and herself. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer