Last updated:聽18 september, 2009 - 13:29 GMT
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, left Afghanistan at the age of 11 when his diplomat father was posted to Paris.
A few years later the Russians invaded his homeland and his family sought asylum in the US.
Khaled has lived in California for most of his life where he worked as a doctor.
While his first bestselling book evokes his early life, the Kabul he left behind has now become a very different place, war-damaged and struggling to function.
Khaled recently returned to Afghanistan as a goodwill envoy with the .
He talked to Outlook's Lucy Ash about that visit to his home country and his shock at what he found there after three decades of conflict.
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