Reading a Five out of Five book

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I rarely read a book that creates such an impression that I continue to carry with me the vivid pictures for months, years. This book is one such and it is true. It is an absolutely inspiring story of human triumph against difficulties that leave me with my jaw hanging open. Kamila Sidiqi's life was changed overnight when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Her parents and a brother had to flee. She was left as the sole breadwinner for her four sisters and one young brother. What could she do, confined as a woman to her home compound, able to go abroad only with her young brother at times that would not conflict with Taliban patrols?

Kamila demonstrated incredible grit, determination and ingenuity. Through learning to sew and teaching others, she established a dressmaking concern that brought in what they needed to live...but not only her family but many others. Kamila became an marvelous entrepreneur ultimately tapped by the UN to help in their concerns.

The story, though true, reads like a suspenseful thriller. One never knows when the Taliban will discover their enterprise or arrest her for her bazaar jaunts to sell dresses.

Everyone with concerns as broad as Afghanistan/Pakistan/Iraq or how to motivate people to self-reliance and entrepreneurship should read this and rejoice.



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