Italian journalist Cecilia Sala plunges readers into three turbulent regions in her unflinching Fire: Voices of a Generation in Iran, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, translated from the Italian by Oonagh Stransky. Beginning with Iran, Sala brings readers close to recent conflicts, such as the protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini's death in 2022. She shares the perspectives of personal friends, including Nabila, a gay kickboxer and wrestler, and sources like Sadira, who is part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
Though parallels can be loosely drawn between the three countries and the people Sala reports on, who are mostly in their 20s, Fire is essentially three accounts in one, tenuously connected by Sala happening to have been a reporter in these places at key times. Fortunately, Sala provides plenty of necessary context and relevant history to catch up readers who may not be familiar with the intricacies of each country's conflicts and revolutions. These include Ukraine's Orange Revolution and Euromaidan protests, and the Haqqani network's origin and impact in Afghanistan.
The section on Afghanistan highlights U.S. interventions in the region. Here, Sala cross-examines and finds wanting the aftermath of the 2020 Doha agreement, negotiated by Donald Trump's administration with the Taliban, and Joseph Biden's disastrous 2021 withdrawal from the country. Sala turns her sharp eye on the loss of Afghan women's rights, safety, and future with a poignancy that cuts.
Sala pulls off a tricky feat, keeping the page count extremely reasonable while creating a book that feels thoroughly researched and reported. Fire is a whirlwind trip through three countries that gets to the heart of what matters. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator