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

Saaman compliments the dress Kamila helped to make. Kamila plans to sell it in the market and try to secure orders for more dresses, which worries Saaman. However, Kamila possesses a famously determined spirit and will not shift from her plans, so they discuss where to sell the dress. After Najeeb’s departure, Kamila is the eldest child and is in charge of the four sisters and one brother who remain in the house. She realizes that, with so much of the family separated, a project like dressmaking will help keep spirits high among those who remain. With her 13-year-old brother Rahim, Kamila travels to the market the next day. He serves as her “eyes and ears” (52) as they walk along the back roads to avoid Taliban guards.

They enter the market, a giant indoor shopping mall filled with stalls, heading for a familiar store. Talking to the owner, Kamila reveals the dress and—after another female customer interrupts them—he agrees to buy it and asks for simpler clothing in the future. He provides fabrics for the clothes and sets a deadline of one week. When he introduces himself as Mehrab, Kamila tells him that her name is Roya. Kamila and Rahim leave the store, and she struggles to conceal her excitement.