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The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, 2011

Cover of 'The Dressmaker of Khair Khana' by Kamila Sidiqi (2011). Cover of 'The Dressmaker of Khair Khana' by Kamila Sidiqi (2011).

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is a non-fiction book. It was published in March 2011 by American foreign policy analyst and journalist, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (1973). It is the story of Kamila Sidiqi, still a teenager in 1996 when the Taliban take control of Kabul, where she is living. Sidiqi has just received a teaching certificate, but is soon banned under Taliban regulations, because she is a female, from further education or work.

After her father and older brother flee the capital, Sidiqi becomes the only breadwinner for her five younger siblings. She teaches herself and her younger sisters how to sew and begins to make women’s clothing for local dressmakers. At great risk, and in secret, she builds up a successful business, starts a tailoring school in her home, and eventually employs almost one hundred friends and neighbours in the enterprise.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana became a New York Times bestseller in the USA, and Sidiqi became the Afghan President’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

Source: LEMMON, Gayle Tzemach (2011). The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, New York: HarperCollins Publisher.

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Last modified on Monday, 26 June 2017 17:03