The Kabul Beauty School - Brossura

Terrifically readable, and rich in personal stories.

A terrific opening chapter—colorful, suspenseful, funny—ushers readers into the curious closed world of Afghan women....This witty and insightful (if light) memoir will be perfect for women’s reading groups and daytime talk shows.

This is a beauty of a book! I was on the edge of my salon chair as I read her gut-wrenching story that revealed true beauty outside and within.

Rodriguez has written a very gutsy, real-life adventure story for women... On hearing so many heart-rending stories from local women decimated by Taliban rule, she opened up a beauty school to give purpose and money–earning capacity back to then.  Her trials and tribulations in setting up the school  and entering an arranged Afghan marriage not only make fascinating reading but reveal a side to Afghanistan that few foreigners have experienced or understood. Her courage in tackling gigantic cultural barriers is also remarkable.

This lively memoir is full of darkly funny moments - a customer who had never seen a blow dryer thinks it's a gun and runs screaming from the salon chair -and the humor leavens the horror stories about life in this war-torn land. A dishy but substantial read.