Maryam Qudrat Aseel is an Afghan-American woman born in the U.S. to first generation Afghan immigrants. In "Torn Between Two Cultures," she weaves her family's and her own personal stories into recent American and Afghan politics and history. Her book describes her upbringing in America as a woman in a modern Afghan family with traditional values. She explores how those values and her own desire to be "American" came into conflict and led to an identity crisis that was only resolved as she rediscovered her religious and cultural roots, became increasingly active in the Afghan and Muslim communities, and resolved to bridge the gap between her two cultures. As an Afghan-American woman, Maryam offers a unique perspective on East and West conflicts, and in this book and in her life she is working to bring about understanding and resolution. "Torn Between Two Cultures" is a paradigm for the larger problem of the growing gap of understanding between the Islamic world and the west.