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Winner! Next Generation Indie Book Award for Biography
Two women. One exhilarating story of displacement and perseverance in the face of extremism. What happens when we take the time to listen?
When the journalist Cindy Miller met Lailoma Shahwali, who was altering her daughter's wedding dress, she assumed their interactions would be brief. But in Lailoma she found not just a seamstress, but a survivor who would open up about her remarkable experiences in her native Afghanistan. In recollections shared over warm tea with cardamom, frozen walnuts, and mulberries, Lailoma offers both an entry into a colorful pre-Taliban Afghanistan, where, despite being a girl, she pursued an education and worked toward becoming a doctor, as well as a stark portrait of what came next, when the Taliban seized her beloved country, stripped her of her hard-won rights, terrorized her family, and brutally murdered her husband.
A breathtaking account of triumph against all odds, Lailoma's fight to protect her young son and support her family takes them on a dangerous mountain escape into Pakistan and then to the United States in search of sanctuary and opportunity. Here, her navigation of a complicated immigration system and her pursuit of the elusive American dream is both highly personal and a timeless account of the experiences of refugees everywhere. Beautifully detailed and strikingly told, The Alterations Lady is a poignant reminder of the possibilities offered by a nation of immigrants and a call to hear the stories of our neighbors, the unsung heroes we interact with every day.
About the author
Cindy Miller is a writer and editor who has worked in newspaper and magazine publishing for twenty-eight years. Cindy edited Arizona Woman magazine and the Arizona Woman Who’s Who in Business, was the founding editor of the award-winning AZ Society magazine and the Red Book Magazine, and has written and edited for the Arizona Republic. Her high-profile interviews have included Senator John McCain, Governor Janet Napolitano, Madeleine Albright, several top athletes, and the philanthropist Mavis Leno as she was spearheading the movement to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Cindy lives in Scottsdale, AZ.
Summary
A refugee’s exhilarating story of displacement and perseverance in the face of extremism and the American who is forever changed by what she hears.
When Cindy Miller met Lailoma Shahwali, who was altering her daughter’s wedding dress, she expected their interactions would be brief. But in Lailoma she found not just a seamstress, but a survivor who would open up about her remarkable experiences in her native Afghanistan under Taliban rule, her husband’s brutal murder in front of Lailoma and her young son, her mountain escape into Pakistan, and her journey to a new life in the United States.
A breathtaking account of triumph against all odds, The Alterations Lady documents Lailoma’s childhood as an Afghan girl, the indignities she endured when the Taliban seized her beloved country and stripped her of her hard-won rights, her relentless determination to protect her child and offer him a better life, and her navigation of the complicated United States immigration system. This timeless story of one refugee’s pursuit of the American dream and her search for sanctuary in a foreign land is a poignant reminder of the plight of refugees everywhere and the possibilities offered by a nation of immigrants.
Foreword
National and regional media categories to include general interest, women’s media, political media covering refugees, and media in the authors’ home state of Arizona. Outlets to include New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, New York magazine, LitHub, Vanity Fair, Vogue, The Nation, BuzzFeed, Arizona Republic, East Vally Tribune, Arizona Daily Star, Scottsdale Independent, Arizona local TV and radio, and more.
Trade media outreach will target reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, ALA Booklist, and Shelf Awareness, and a book trailer will be submitted as well as ads.
Mainstream media targets will embrace author’s connections as a journalist, targeting outlets she is connected to, such as USA Today, the Arizona Republic, Arizona Woman, the Inspired 360 podcast, and more.
Influencer, BookTok, and other social media campaigns will reach book reviewers with large audiences and others likely to review the book.
In-person and virtual events throughout Arizona and elsewhere as opportunities arise. To include Arizona bookstores and the Tucson Book Festival, likely Neiman Marcus, where Lailoma works, and Lutheran Social Services, which sponsored Lailoma and her son's entry into the US.
Print and digital ARCs will be available for sales, marketing, publicity, and endorsement solicitations.
Promotion around timely hooks, including ongoing immigration debates and flashpoints, the 2024 election, the anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan with Lailoma speaking on why it’s necessary to continue to offer support, fall reading book lists, and more.
Holiday promotions to include Mother’s Day, International Women’s Day (March 8), and World Refugee Day (June 20).
