Not long after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid. Once there she fell in love with the people and their land - but what could she, a hairdresser from Michigan, do to help? Eventually she decided to open a beauty school that would give Afghani women the skills they needed to work in one of the only socially acceptable areas: beauty salons. The Kabul Beauty School opened in 2003 and as Rodriguez tells her story she also introduces you to the vibrant women who have become a part of her life: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family’s debts, the Taliban member’s wife who attended the beauty school despite her husband’s constant beatings. Each and every tale is filled with moments of heartbreak and awe - it’s hard to believe what some Afghani women must go through for the simple pleasures we so easily enjoy in America.

The subtitle for this book is somewhat misleading in that Rodriguez never went behind the veil herself, choosing instead to revel in her outgoing American personality. She did wear a veil on occasion, but for the most part Rodriguez reveals the proverbial faces of other women living veiled lives in Afghanistan. Also, at times it is hard to understand what was going on in Rodriguez’s head and I would have appreciated more detail about the thinking process behind her decisions. For instance, when she agreed to an arranged marriage and became a man’s second wife, or when she agreed to let her teenage son marry an Afghani woman who was being sexually abused. Yet if the rest of the book is any indication, I’m sure the impetus behind these actions was the author’s big heart and tremendous trust in the goodness in other people. Altogether this is an inspiring book that makes you rethink your conceptions about what can truly make a difference in this world.