The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother...
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The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, Kamila became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and created a thriving business of her own. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the Taliban. Former ABC News reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon spent years on the ground reporting Kamila's story, and the result is an unusually intimate and unsanitized look at the daily lives of women in Afghanistan. These women are not victims; they are the glue that holds families together; they are the backbone and the heart of their nation. Afghanistan's future remains uncertain as debates over withdrawal timelines dominate the news. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana moves beyond the headlines to transport you to an Afghanistan you have never seen before. This is a story of war, but it is also a story of sisterhood and resilience in the face of despair. Kamila Sidiqi's journey will inspire you, but it will also change the way you think about one of the most important political and humanitarian issues of our time.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780061732379 (0061732370)
ASIN: 61732370
Publish date: March 15th 2011
Publisher: Harper
Pages no: 258
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Autobiography,
Memoir,
Biography,
History,
Cultural,
Book Club,
Adult,
War,
Asia,
Biography Memoir,
Womens
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana takes place in 1996 and tells the story of a young woman named Kamila Sadiqi. She lives in Khair Khana, a district in Kabul, Afghanistan. Kamila has just earned her teaching degree and is excited to being her career as a school teacher. She is walking home one day an...
Overall, this book left me with a meh feeling. The history and social structure of Afghanistan from the time of King Shah through September 11, 2001 was very interesting and informative. I feel I gained an appreciation for what the Afghan people have gone through with the different regimes. Howe...
The author was a former journalist in Washington D.C. covering presidential campaigns. She left her job in 2005 to go to grad school. She wanted to do international development research and in that vein was going to interview women in war zones to see how they survived and managed to support themsel...
This was a book club read for me. Honestly, I wouldn't have chosen it to read if not for the fact that a prominent member of my book club group had a personal connection to the author; thus, she recommended it to the group. I rated this book 4 stars for the subject matter of the courageous women ...
"Be careful all the time: don't ever let your guard down and get comfortable, even for a moment, because that's all it takes for them to arrest you."This true-life memoir tells the story of Kamila Sidiqi and her sisters, living in Kabul, Afghanistan under Taliban rule. When the regime took over the...