Living in Kyrgyzstan during World War II, Seit is a teenage boy experiencing his first, unrequited crush on his sister-in-law, Jamilia. Jamilia is married to Sadyk, whose tepid letters from the war are sent to his parents and mention her only in passing in the postscripts. The two of them get thrown together with Daniyal, a soldier invalided back from the front, whose sullen demeanor slowly thaws to reveal a poet's soul. Aïmatov sews these elements together into a love story that feels like a folk tale handed down through the generations. Reading about the author, it seems the folklore tone is characteristic of his work as he aimed to recreate the oral tradition of his nomadic people. It gives this story a charming air that I loved. ( )

Jamilia is a lovely story told to us by the young teenager Seit, who remains the only son still on the farm after his brothers have been called to war (WWII, I believe). Each day, Seit and his young, beautiful and high-spirited sister-in-law, and Daniyal, a former soldier who was wounded on the battlefield, load their wagons full of bags of grain for the war effort and haul them to the train station. With this as his set, and the Kyrgyzstan countryside as his backdrop, Seit tells us this love story, a story of which he has been a part of, but yet, also a story that feels older somehow. I think this is what I enjoyed most about this short book, the feeling that the story is something of folklore or myth. ( )

One of the most charming novels on love and emancipation I ever read. Louis Aragon was not far wrong when he called it "the most beautiful love story in the world". Set in Kyrgyzstan (Kirghizia) during World War 2 and featuring a strong-willed young woman this semi-autobiographical tale is told from the view of the young boy the author was at the time. Translated into all major western languages and highly recommended to lovers of romantic fiction.