The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul is the first novel by hairdresser, a motivational speaker and author, Deborah Rodriguez. Sunny Tedder owns a coffee shop in Kabul, staffed by her Hazzara barista and manager, Bashir Hadi, her land-lady Halajan and her security guard, Ahmet, Halajans strictly Muslim son. Soft-hearted Sunny finds herself taking on a waitress, an escapee from a Nuristani war-lord, the pregnant Yazmina. As Sunny waits for the reappearance of her boyfriend Tommy, working on undisclosed assignments and away for long periods without contact, she makes improvements to attract customers and increase her business. American businessman, Jack is a regular customer; British journalist, Isabel Hughes is attracted by a Wednesday night speaker on womens issues; Candace Appleton, ex-wife of a US ambassador and intent on good works, is accompanied to the coffee house by her new love, Afghani Wakil. This is the group of people that tries to lead ordinary lives against the backdrop of danger that is the norm in Afghanistan. in Kabul, people get close quickly, bound together by experience, fear, and loneliness. Time is compressed, relationships move fast Each of the women has a secret (or two) that affects the way they react to events in their lives, and not all of them will survive. Rodriguez describes an Afghan wedding, comments on the status of women, on the need for security, on power, abuse and violence. She also comments on men: ..men were a proud, strange bunch, and Afghan men more complex that most; on friendship between cultures: We are friends, but there will always be the distance of oceans, customs, and history between us; on the difference in emotional response that living with war makes: In Afghanistan, you cry when your house burns down with everything and everyone in it. Having owned a coffee house in Kabul for several years, Rodriguez personal experience ensures her novel has a highly authentic feel. Her love for Afghanistan and her people is evident in every paragraph. This feel-good novel has the added bonus of an interview with the author and recipes for some Afghani dishes. Enjoyable and informative.