The Kabul Beauty School

Deborah Rodriguez arrived in Afghanistan in 2002 with nothing but a desire to help and a beauty degree. When she arrived she learned that the once-proud tradition of Afghan beauty salons had been all but destroyed by the Taliban. With her knowledge of both beauty and enterprise, Rodriguez opened the first salon in Kabul that actually trained local women to become beauticians - one of the few ways in which a woman could support herself and her family. And it is here that she not only empowered her students with a new sense of autonomy - in this strictly patriarchal culture the beauty school proved a small haven - but also made some of the closest friends of her life. Woven through the book are stories of the students: for example, the 12-year-old bride who has been sold into marriage to pay off her family's debts; the medic who had not left her house for 30 years; the newlywed who must fake her own virginity. All of these women have a story to tell, and all of them bring their stories to the Kabul Beauty School, where, along with Rodriguez herself, they learn the art of perms, friendship and freedom.