“[Deborah] Rodriguez paints a vivid picture of Afghan culture. . . . As if Maeve Binchy had written The Kite Runner.”—Kirkus ReviewsAfter hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home—in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. There, the thirty-eight-year-old serves up her American hospitality to the expats who patronize her coffee shop, including a British journalist, a … including a British journalist, a “danger pay” consultant, and a wealthy and well-connected woman. True to her name, Sunny also bonds with people whose language and landscape are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but whose hearts and souls are very much like our own: the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son; and Yazmina, a young Afghan villager with a secret that could put everyone’s life in jeopardy. In this gorgeous first novel, New York Times bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez paints a stirring portrait of a faraway place where—even in the fog of political and social conflict—friendship, passion, and hope still exist.
Originally published as A Cup of Friendship.
Praise for The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
“A superb debut novel . . . [Deborah] Rodriguez captures place and people wholeheartedly, unveiling the faces of Afghanistan’s women through a wealth of memorable characters who light up the page.”—Publishers Weekly
“[A] fast-paced winner of a novel . . . the work of a serious artist with great powers of description at her disposal.”—The Kansas City Star
“Readers will appreciate the in-depth, sensory descriptions of this oft-mentioned and faraway place that most have never seen.”—Booklist
“Charming . . . [a book] to warm your heart.”—Good Housekeeping
more
Great read
I would say that the author is not really a top-notch writer. However, it is an interesting true story about a part of the world I’m not familiar with.
I loved this book and how it wove both food and characters into one central point – the Little Coffee Shop. The characters came alive onto the page, as did the food Sirine cooked. I especially enjoyed it because it was based on a real life experience by the author and told with multiple cultural points of view – how the Americans have influenced …
Fascinating, realistic look at what it would be like to be a woman living in Afghanistan about ten years ago.
enjoyed reading it, the muslim input in the story made it super interesting, especially since it was learned through the main character, who is American.
Loved this book, unpredictable, great read liked I’d never read before.
Absolutely loved this book…great story and characters
Sad to think even in 2017 Women and girls are treated so bad!
I very much enjoyed this based–on-real-life book with the end changed so that it was truely fiction.
This book read “real” enough, you felt you were there at times.
I loved the premise, the characters and the suspension packed action.
This book gave an inside look to regular life for regular people in Afghanistan.
Was too predictable, but the characters were great
I found myself deeply identifying with several of the characters in this book. Characters of such different backgrounds that this book is guaranteed to be diverse no matter who the reader is. And woven in there is this beautiful almost poetry of lines, and facts that overwhelm the mind. This is a book we should all experience, not just read, and …