misshapen by falling mountain rubble) has left its scars but there's a glint in his eye and humour in his conversation. He adores his only son but also sees him as the one chance of escaping a life of poverty.

Mir's mother, Mirwari, is the most resilient of women. She looks 20 years older than her mid-40s, toothless and ailing. We first see her wrapped in blankets, suffering from the green meat that Abdul brings from the market. But she is opinionated and a fighter. Her life is utterly focussed on Mir and his sister. She remembers her youth but, for 25 years, she has known nothing but bombing, death and fleeing through precipitous mountain ranges. She is, understandably, fed up. Not that Mir seems to notice.

Gul Afrooz is Mir’s half-sister (she is daughter of Abdul’s second wife. Mir is the son of Mirwari, Abdul’s third wife). In her early teens, she is kept in the shadows by Abdul and Mirwari and rarely speaks.

Khoshdel is Mir's sister's husband. He is in his mid-30s. He is a good man, who looks out for his little brother-in-law and shows him the ropes