The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

In 2005, Gayle Lemmon headed to Afghanistan, looking for stories of women entrepreneurs, women who had built businesses there, despite the fact they were living in a war zone. She intended to tell the story of Afghan businesswomen who emerged after the Taliban's takeover. What was it like for the women left behind as men were forced to flee the country? The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, the story of one courageous, enterprising young woman, is an inspiring story for all women.

Kamila Sidiqi came from a family of nine girls and two boys. Mr. Sidiqi had seen enough of the world to believe that all of his children should be educated, including his girls. Kamila had just received her teaching certificate when the Taliban took over in Kabul in 1996. But, when the Taliban took Kabul, they immediately forbade girls to go to school. Women were also barred from working outside the home, and even forbidden to leave th,eir home without a male relative. If they did, they were in danger of being beaten, imprisoned, or even shot. And, men were being rounded up, forced to join the Taliban. With Mr. Sidiqi's past in the military, he knew he might be considered an enemy, so he left the area. His wife and oldest son soon followed, leaving Kamila at home with her four younger sisters and younger brother. When her father left, he told Kamila he was counting on her to be a leader for her sisters.

In a riveting story that reads like a novel, Lemmon tells of Kamila's success. Somehow she had to find a way to make a living for herself and her family. Calling on her older sister for help, she learned a dressmaking  skill, and set out to sell dresses to merchants. Despite ongoing dangers and threats of arrest at any time, Kamila built a business that helped not only her family to survive, but numerous other women, widows and young women who became sometimes the only support for their families. It's hard to imagine young American women of eighteen or nineteen taking on such a role under constant threat. But, Kamila's family business grew so much it came to the attention of international organizations, and by the time the Taliban were pushed out of Kabul in 2001, Kamila was working to train other women. Eventually, she had trained more than 900 of her countrymen and women so they had skills to build and grow their own businesses.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is fascinating. Mr. Sidiqi had taught Kamila that "Learning was the key to the future - both her own and her country's." It's a lesson she took to heart in the five years under the Taliban, and the years since as she continued to help others. It's so hard to imagine what Kamila Sidiqi did, with the help of her sisters, building a business that grew to support not only their family, but so many others. The author says, "They were just kids trying to survive another year of war together with no parents to watch over them." The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is an inspiring, moving story of courage. 

Gayle Lemmon's website is www.gaylelemmon.com.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. HarperCollins. ©2011. ISBN 9780061732379 (hardcover), 257p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - Library book

A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez

I never read Deborah Rodriguez' Kabul Beauty School.  But, her novel, A Cup of Friendship, takes readers back to Kabul, Afghanistan in a beautiful story of women trying to live full, happy lives, despite war and oppression.  And, after reading this story, I can understand why Kabul Beauty School was talked about so much when it came out.  Rodriguez brings Kabul to life, as seen through the eyes of an American.
 
Sunny Tedder is an American who owns the Coffee Shop in Kabul, in the middle of the war zone.  Her barista and right-hand man is Bashir Hadi, while Ahmet, the son of Sunny's landlady, Halajan, guards the door, preventing people from bringing guns in.  And, it's a trip Sunny makes to the Women's Ministry that will bring a young woman into their lives that will change everyone.

Yazmina is a young widow from northern countryside in Afghanistan.  Originally taken to pay for her uncle's debts, she was thrown from the car when the men discovered she was pregnant.  Despite a great risk to her business, and the men involved in it, Sunny took Yazmina in, never telling the young woman she knew she was pregnant.  For, if anyone learned an unmarried pregnant woman was living in the house, it would bring disgrace on everyone involved, since no one knew who the father was, and everyone would be suspected.

But, this book is more than just Sunny's story or Yazmina's.  It's the story of women in Afghanistan, no matter what their nationality.  Halajan, the owner of the Coffee Shop's building, is a victim of Afghanistan's politics.  She lived under freedom and oppression.  Behind walls, she smokes cigarettes, cuts her hair, and still wears a mini-skirt.  In public, she is the mother of a grown son, a widow who cannot remarry unless her son finds her a husband.  She is in love with a widowed tailor who has written her letters for years, letters she can not read because she is illiterate. 

Isabel is a British journalist, a woman who uses men to get into her the best places to cover a story, whether it's a war zone, or a women's prison.  And, she finds her way to Sunny's Coffee Shop, and a way into Sunny's life.  Then, there's Candace, a wealthy American who left her diplomat husband, thinking she loved an Afghan man who was building schools.  She uses her influence to raise money for those schools, to help the man she loves.  Candace has nothing but her influence and money.  Sunny has the coffeehouse; Isabel has her work.  Candace is also searching for a way to be useful.

A Cup of Friendship is a story of friendship, and a story of love in the face of tradition.  The stories of women in Afghanistan, and their treatment, is haunting and tragic. But, the women in Sunny's circle must find a way around that tradition, in order to live.  This haunting story can be summed up in a sentence from the book itself.  "In their hearts, they were all the same; women yearning for rich lives, someone to love and to love them in return, friends to laugh with, drink with, cry with."  These are the women of Sunny's life, the women of A Cup of Friendship.

Deborah Rodriguez's website is www.DebbieRodriguez.com

A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez.  Random House, ©2011. ISBN 9780345514752 (hardcover), 304p.