Kabul Beauty School, An
American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
Deborah Rodriguez
Random House
For those who wonder about the life of women in Eastern culture, “Kabul Beauty School”
is a must read. The memoirs of Deborah Rodriguez,
will make you cry, laugh and wonder, as she attempts to learn a new culture and
help women in Afghanistan.
The book is riveting and suspenseful, as stories within stories
emerge. It illuminates for the westerner, the contradiction of a culture that
seeks beauty while hiding it. And in the community of a salon, our common
humanity brings together women from different sides of the divide.
However, the book is not without controversy. Rodriguez first traveled to Kabul as a humanitarian, after
September 11, 2000. She later began a beauty school to help women achieve independence.
But there were apparently other women who contributed to this endeavor. And discrepancies
exist regarding who the founder of the school really was. Controversial or not,
one thing is certain. Rodriguez’s memoirs of a gender restricted community,
trying to survive in extraordinary circumstances, are gripping. An emotional page turner, from the
first page to the last!