Rodriguez, Deborah. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes behind the Veil. Apr. 2007. 272p. Random, $24.95 (1-4000-6559-3). 305.48.
Riveting
from the start, Rodriguez’s account tells the story of one Michigan woman’s
quest to help women in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban the best
way she knows how: by opening a beauty school. Indeed, when beautician
Rodriguez opens her salon/school, she doesn’t realize how desperately Kabul,
especially the women of Kabul, need her. After spending a couple of years in
her adopted city, she realizes that she is giving women the power to earn
both money and autonomy, and fights fiercely to keep the school open.
Refreshingly charismatic and gossipy, Rodriguez’s voice is endearingly
unguarded, just like that of a chatty hairdresser. The women she meets are
described in loving detail, and it is hardly a surprise when “Miss Debbie”
marries an Afghani man and settles into a rocky but ultimately encouraging
marriage. Rodriguez’s are Western eyes, and it is easy to imagine an Afghan
woman being offended by some details she divulges, but underneath the
culture clash is genuine care, respect, and juicy storytelling. —Emily
Cook