Most Westerners now working in Afghanistan spend their time tucked inside the wall of a military compound or embassy. Deborah Rodriguez is one of the very few who lives life smack in the middle of Kabul. Now, Rodriguez tells the story of the beauty school she founded and the vibrant women who were her students there.
When Rodriguez opened the Kabul Beauty School, she not only empowered her students with a new sense of autonomy—in the strictly patriarchal culture, the beauty school proved a small haven—but also made some of the closest friends of her life. Woven through the book are the stories of her students. There is the newlywed who must fake her own virginity, the twelve-year-old bride who has been sold into marriage to pay her family’s debts, and the wife of a member of the Taliban who pursues her training despite her husband’s constant beatings. All of these women have a story to tell, and all of them bring their stories to the Kabul Beauty School, where, along with Rodriguez herself, they learn the art of perms, of friendship, and of freedom.
Debbie Rodriguez is a new kind of secular missionary. She went to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, planning to work as a nurse's aide. But when her skills as a hairdresser were discovered, she found herself training young Afghan women in the trade. By learning a marketable skill, the women gained security, autonomy, and dignity. It's difficult for Westerners to understand the culture in which women live in Kabul, and Rodriguez provides plenty of shocking details. Listeners are aided in their sojourn to this land by the clear and confident narration of Bernadette Dunne. Her delivery will make listeners feel it's the author herself telling them about her students, love life, and political problems. Rodriquez's experiences are fascinating, and Dunne makes them more so. D.L.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly (starred review)...
"A terrific opening chapter—colorful, suspenseful, funny—ushers readers into the curious closed world of Afghan women..."
About the Author
Deborah Rodriguez, born and raised in Holland, Michigan, has worked as a hairdresser since 1979. In 2002, she helped found the Kabul Beauty School, the first modern beauty school and training salon in Afghanistan, and the Kabul Coffee House and Café. She lives in Kabul with her Afghan husband.
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