Feb 18, 2012
Kabul Beauty School
That was the name of the second book our Stone Island book club was discussing this winter. It is written by Deoborah Rodriguez who has also written a second novel and is working on her third which will include Mazatlan, Mexico.
This year there are only 6 of us involved in the club and somehow we always seem to have something to discuss. I was the one who had suggested this book and so I sponsored the discussion under our new palapa. Which by the way did prove to be waterproof as we had a rain shower!!!
The book is a sort of memoir of Deborah travelling to Afghanistan after Sept 11th to help the country. After a short period of time in that country and with much effort on her part she began the Kabul Beauty School which during her years there graduated over 200 female students. The beauty of this Beauty School was twofold…the most important fact being that over 200 women who were under strict rules and had to live in public wearing the all encompassing burka were given a key to a sort of freedom and independence. You have to read the book to get all the details, the horrors Deborah and her students endured and the eventual triumphs experienced.
The rain stopped and we moved into the sun to continue our discussion. By now we were getting into the nitty gritty of the novel and wanting much more detail.
The reason I had chosen this particular novel was that I knew that Deborah lived in Mazatlan! I arranged a luncheon at Macaws Restaurant where Deb joined us for a tell all....................
She generously gave us over two hours of her time. We learnt a lot, more than I can repeat.......this lady can tell a story, whether in a novel or in person. Debbie was a treat to meet and we were so impressed with her knowledge of all things Afghan. She truly has a feel for the women of the country, the political reasoning and more......sadly she was betrayed and had to flee the country with a mere 10 minutes notice........a sad situation........best explained by reading her story.
Milles gracias Deb for your time with our wee group and for all you did for the women in Kabul. We salute you.
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It was a great luncheon that allowed us the opportunity to hear about Debbies’ experiences first hand and many of the missing details in “The Kabul Beauty School”. Great to know that she is available on line for Skype discussions with other book clubs too. Hopefully others will take advantage of her generosity to learn more about lifes’ challenges for the women in Afganistan.
thanks for inviting me, it was really fun.
How neat is that – to be able to sit down with the author and get the whole story.
Sounds like you had great time getting together with the author.
[…] you remember Deb was the author of the book we read for our last book club!! A beauty salon with […]