The Darling of Kandahar

A few years ago, MacLeans magazine - the Student Edition - featured a lovely young woman on the cover - and it caught the attention of a soldier in Afghanistan.

He wrote to MacLean's to thank them for the cover, and she became a sort of "pin-up" for the soldier and his fellow-soldiers in Kandahar. The Canadian media nicknamed her The Darling of Kandahar.

They never met. The young soldier died shortly afterward. So that's where the story ended - until Felicia Mihali re-imagined it.

Felicia is a Romanian novelist who's lived in Montreal since 2000. Her new novel - her first in English - is titled The Darling of Kandahar. She'll be presenting it at the Knowlton WordFest next Saturday.