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

“Everyone had her version of what the new regime would mean for Kabul’s residents.” 

As Kamila rides the bus home, she overhears talk of the rapidly-approaching Taliban. Amidst the civil war, the Taliban stand out for being both fearsome and competent. This bus ride introduces the audience to the theocratic, authoritarian forces that will become the antagonist in the story. The confusion among Kabul’s residents only makes the Taliban seem more threatening and more dangerous; nobody knows how or when they will be targeted, but they do know that life for women will no longer be the same. 

“She struggled to see out through the small eye vent, which was just two inches long and three and a half inches wide.” 

The threat of not wearing the veil is clear to Malika: She will be beaten in the streets, but her unfamiliarity with the garment and the discomfort it causes demonstrates just how long it has been since Afghan women were forced to wear a veil. The Taliban are about to change everything in Kabul, forcing women to adhere to practices that many considered forgotten in the distant past. 

“Kabulis watched helplessly as the Taliban began reshaping the cosmopolitan capital according to their utopian vision of seventh century Islam.” 

In this quote, the text separates the characters into those from Kabul and the Taliban fighters. The two groups have radically different interpretations of Islam and culture; but because the latter has the guns and the power, the former group is obliged to comply.