Kabul Beauty School

Starred review from April 2, 2007
A terrific opening chapter\x97colorful, suspenseful, funny\x97ushers readers into the curious closed world of Afghan women. A wedding is about to take place, arranged, of course, but there is a potentially dire secret\x97the bride is not technically a virgin. How Rodriguez, an admirably resourceful and dynamic woman, set to marry a nice Afghan man, solves this problem makes a great story, embellished as it is with all the traditional wedding preparations. Rodriguez went to Afghanistan in 2002, just after the fall of the Taliban, volunteering as a nurse's aide, but soon found that her skills as a trained hairdresser were far more in demand, both for the Western workers and, as word got out, Afghans. On a trip back to the U.S., she persuaded companies in the beauty industry to donate 10,000 boxes of products and supplies to ship to Kabul, and instantly she started a training school. Political problems ensued ("too much laughing within the school"), financial problems, cultural misunderstandings and finally the government closed the school and salon\x97though the reader will suspect that the endlessly ingenious Rodriguez, using her book as a wedge against authority, will triumph in the end. This witty and insightful (if light) memoir will be perfect for women's reading groups and daytime talk shows.

May 1, 2007
Adult/High School-In 2002, just months after the Taliban had been driven out of Afghanistan, Rodriguez, a hairdresser from Holland, MI, joined a small nongovernmental aid organization on a mission to the war-torn nation. That visit changed her life. In "Kabul", she chronicles her efforts to help establish the country's first modern beauty school and training salon; along with music and kite-flying, hairdressing had been banned under the previous regime. This memoir offers a glimpse into a world Westerners seldom seelife behind the veil. Rodriguez was entranced with the delightful personalities that emerged when her students removed their burqas behind closed doors, but her book is also a tale of empowermentboth for her and the women. In a city with no mail service, she went door-to-door to recruit students from clandestine beauty shops, and there were constant efforts to shut her down. She had to convince Afghan men to work side by side with her to unpack cartons of supplies donated from the U.S. The students, however, are the heroines of this memoir. Women denied education and seldom allowed to leave their homes found they were able to support themselves and their families. Rodriguez's experiences will delight readers as she recounts such tales as two friends acting as parents and negotiating a dowry for her marriage to an Afghan man or her students puzzling over a donation of a carton of thongs. Most of all, they will share her admiration for Afghan women's survival and triumph in chaotic times."Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, VA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2007
The stories of Western women coming to the relief of Afghans have been told before, e.g., in Christina Lamb'sThe Sewing Circles of Herat and Ann Jones'sKabul in Winter, but never with the innocence and spirit offered by Rodriguez. Refreshingly free of lectures, her book tells how her restlessness led her to relief work in New York after 9/11 and eventually to Afghanistan. A former prison guard and hairdresser, the author is no typical do-gooder. She is shunted aside by her sponsoring charity because she has no obvious practical skillsuntil her enthusiasm for cosmetology is discovered by the locals, and she helps set up the Kabul Beauty School. Brash and clearly uninterested in political niceties, Rodriguez understands the needs and fears of the Afghan women who befriend her because she, too, has left a brutal husband back in the United States. She looks past culture, language, and religion to the core of pain and joy that people share. Even when facing limited choices and relentless violence, she remains rebelliously kindhearted. She is still in Kabul, now director of the school and owner of the Oasis Salon and Kabul Coffee House and Café. Strongly recommended for all public libraries.Lisa Klopfer, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2007
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 and 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)