The Dressmaker of Khair Khana - Softcover

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana gives voice to many of our world's unsung heroines. Against all odds, these young women created hope and community, and they never gave up. This book is guaranteed to move you and to show you a side of Afghanistan few ever see. --Angelina Jolie

An inspiring story of courageous community buildingThe product of several years of in-depth interviewing[Lemmon] pays scrupulous attention to detail...[and] convincingly evokes the atmosphere of Taliban-era Kabul. --Kirkus Reviews

Books on Afghanistan usually fall into one of two categories: policy oriented polemics, or simple tales about do-gooders. Rarely has an author been so successful in turning on-the-ground reportage into a dramatic and yet deeply informative story. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana reads like great fiction and yet it is all true; this book will grab you from the first sentence and take you on an amazing journey that crosses many borders: cultural, geographical, intellectual and, most importantly, emotional. It is a must read. --Mohamed El-Erian, author of When Markets Collide

THE DRESSMAKER OF KHAIR KHANA tells the story of Kamila Sidiqi, the unlikely breadwinner in a burqa who became an entrepreneur under the Taliban. Desperate to support her six brothers and sisters at home and banished from Kabul's streets by the Taliban, she started a dressmaking business in her living room which offered work to 100 women in her community. Together these unsung heroines made the difference between survival and starvation for their families despite and sometimes because of the Taliban. DRESSMAKER tells their story for the first time.

We see Kamila on a bus facing the barrel of a Taliban gun and trying to talk her way out of being sent to prison simply for trying to get to work. And we watch as the girls sew a half-dozen wedding dresses in just two days, only to learn later that the hastily planned wedding's groom is a Talib! We see Titanic fever take hold of Kabul, and the Leo Look seize the city's attention. And we meet the young women who persevere through all of it on their family's and their community's behalf.

We are used to seeing women as victims of war who deserve our pity. DRESSMAKER shows us the resilient survivors who demand our respect. Theirs is a universal tale of what women do to pull families through no matter how impossible the circumstance, and the power of one to create hope for many. At a time when U.S. soldiers continue their fight in this war-hardened country, DRESSMAKER shines a light on the lives and struggles of those who believe a brighter future for Afghanistan is possible.