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Average Customer Rating:

Brave beyond prudence

Customer Rating:

I have read a number of books on Afghanistan and have visited Kabul. This is the most amazing book I have read concerning that troubled country. The author went there after 9/11 to work with a medical NGO. She found her hairdressing and beautician's skills much in demand and a way to help Afghan women eventually starting her own school. Her commitment to the Afghan women is outstanding. She is brave to the point of folly in battles with all and sundry from muggers to ministries.She becomes the second wife of an Afghan and in the end has to leave the country for her own safety. This is one very feisty female. Her book is all the more remarkable as despite her bad experiences with men, home and abroad, her book is devoid of any feministic reaction.

Very disappointing	Customer Rating:
Great subject - I read a lot of books on the Middle East/Asia/India but after reading the Kiterunner I found the prose very weak. I didn't feel myself getting absorbed in the same way as I did when I read the Kiterunner or Purple Hibiscus - which were so well written. I think some of the American terms spoilt it and it didn't have the depth that I like in a book.

Excellent read!!	Customer Rating:
I thought that this was an excellent book. I really couldnt put this down. I highly recommend it.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Customer Rating:

Deborah Rodriguez is a beautician from Michigan who went over to Afghanistan after September 11th to help in any way she could. She quickly fell in love with the country and wanted to reestablish the Afghan beauticians who went out of existence when the Taliban took over. Along with help from others, she opened a beauty school where she trained Afghan women to become beauticians who could then open up their own beauty salons. This amazing true story is heartwarming yet incredibly sad at the same time. The reader learns the personal and tragic story of the many Afghan women that Rodriguez befriends. We learn of their arranged marriages to men twice their age, abusive husbands who will divorce them if the women can't bear a son, and monetary struggles and desperate attempts to find that money. It is also wonderful to read about these same women becoming independent and happy due to their education from the beauty school and their friendship with Ms. Rodriguez. This book is truly inspiring and educational. The reader learns about many customs and misconceptions about Afghanistan and its people through the real life experiences of Rodriguez. Her desire to help the kind Afghan people can inspire anyone to do the same. KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL is sure to please all readers who are open to learning about a foreign people, their customs, and an American woman who felt the need to dedicate her life to those less fortunate. Reviewed by: Steph