The Breadwinner, also known as Parvana,[1] is a children's novel by Deborah Ellis,[2] first published in 2001. As of October 2013, the English-language edition of the book has had a run of 39 editions. The title of the book refers to the role of the protagonist, 11-year-old Parvana, who is forced by circumstances to be the breadwinner for her family in a war-torn Taliban-era in Afghanistan.
For her research, the author spent several months interviewing women and girls in refugee camps in Pakistan, and used these interviews as the basis of her depiction of life in Afghanistan.[3] The book has received several literary awards, including the Peter Pan Prize and the Middle East Book Award in 2002.[4] The novel was followed by four sequels, Parvana's Journey in 2002, Mud City in 2003, My Name is Parvana in 2012 and One More Mountain in 2022.[5]
