Lipstick in Afghanistan

Written by Roberta Gately

Narrated by Mozhan Marno

Booklist calls this powerful debut by Roberta Gately an "utterly engrossing read." In the months after 9/11, Boston nurse Elsa Murphy volunteers to go to Afghanistan to work in a small clinic. Although her new surroundings take some adjusting to, Elsa soon finds friendship with a young Afghani woman and potential romance with a U.S. soldier. But Elsa's newfound happiness is threatened when Taliban forces move in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781461847410

Roberta Gately

Roberta Gately is a nurse, humanitarian aid worker, and writer who has served in war zones around the world. She has written on the subject of refugees for the Journal of Emergency Nursing and BBC World News Online. A regular speaker on the plight of the world's refugees and displaced, she currently resides near Boston.

Reviews for Lipstick in Afghanistan

[authorjanebnight · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Elsa trained as a nurse and decides to go to Afghanistan as a volunteer. She has limited support and must navigate the culture and customs with almost no help. She meets locals and makes friendships during her 6 months of volunteering.My Rating:3/5I learned so much about the culture and customs of Afghanistan. This was an incredibly eye opening book much like my previous experience reading the Kite Runner. The author is a humanitarian worker and her depiction of the people and customs was well researched and rang true. The setting was done well and was amazingly rich. Afghanistan is almost a character in this novel. The exploration of women in Afghanistan was inspiring. The women in this book often must do incredible things with little power. Afghanistan is a country where women are suppressed and yet the women in this book are heroes. They risk everything to help other women and to care for their families. The bonds they form with one another touched my heart. The lipstick in the title is symbolic of female empowerment and I really appreciated the symbolism it held especially as Elsa struggles with how she and other women are treated. People don't understand why she is not married. They have no concept of a career woman. While I loved the setting and the character depth I also had several issues with this novel. This is a debut novel and I found the prose frustrating to read. It is written in 3rd person and at times there is more telling than showing. Just overall I didn't jive with the writing of this book. I also thought the story started too early. The book opens when Elsa is a child and I felt that was unnecessary. Her background could have been woven through the story and worked better. I felt like the beginning of the novel just meandered. Another major issue I had was with the plot of this book. This book felt more like loosely connected vignettes than a book with an overarching plot. The plot of the book is Elsa goes to Afghanistan. She is a nurse there. Stuff happens. After six months she leaves. Especially near the end of the book it seemed to me the story was in the weeds and things got convoluted and weird. I felt like the book was missing the glue to hold the story it was trying to tell together. We got some amazing fragments but missed out on the whole. I also was not a fan of the romance sub plot in this book. Overall I don't feel I can recommend this book as a novel read for entertainment. If you want a novel that looks at the culture of Afghanistan and you are less concerned about story then this book may work well enough for you.

[smits_52 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel is a light read on a dark topic. It is not very well written. It relies a lot on well worn phrases and expressions. Elsa, a Boston ER nurse heads to Bamiyan in Afghanistan. She has never done aid work before but quickly adapts to life in a war torn village. she makes friends and meets and falls in love with an American soldier.The novel does do a nice job of describing village life and the unfailing kindness of the Afgan people such as her friend Paween, Uncle Abdullah,and Hamid, It also shows how life is for women under the taliban, . An ill fated trip to check out a possible school site ends in tragedy and also marks the end of Elsa's mission. It's too bad that the writing is so immature as the concept of the story is a good one.

[carolee888 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lipstick in Afghanistan” by Roberta Gately is fictional picture of rural Afghanistan through the eyes of nurse, Elsa and young woman named Parween. They develop a friendship that breaks through cultural boundaries and gives hope to the one and growth to the other.It was difficult for me to understand the part about the lipstick. There is an emphasis on a tube of lipstick giving women a sense of importance and beauty. Although makeup is very important in Afghani weddings, it is not that important in daily life. After reading the interview with the author, it, I know that lipstick makes her feel better. Lipstick has a bigger role in the author’s life than mine; I will let it go at that.The story is very engaging and educational. I learned more about the Taliban, how they even banned some of the joys of childhood. Also, some of the language, including the standard greeting:"As-salaam alaikum. Chetore asti? Khoob asti? Jona jurast" which means "May peace be with you. How are you? You are well? How is your health?". Page 61.Elsa, the nurse, came from an impoverished and rough neighborhood, and her family role was taking care of her disabled sister. She was a lonely person. Somehow she was very naïve about the dangers of war but she learned what she needed to know in Afghanistan with the help of the friends that she made.Parween was a very intelligent, rebellious tom boy who could stand up against the boys for herself, betrothed at the age of 12, but relieved to know that she could ask for a better husband. She was thrilled when husband encouraged her to learn English.The two women became inspired by a recent legend of a woman warrior against the Taliban. Their experiences made their friendship grow strong as they faced the demonic Taliban.I highly recommend this book to people who would like to learn more about Afghanistan culture and some about the Taliban.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Lipstick in Afghanistan doesn’t make any pretense of being factual and it’s a darn good thing. The back cover promises it is “inspired by experiences as a nurse in third world war zones.” I can’t remember when I read a more heavy-handed book. It’s almost as if (wait for it…) the author colored all the Key Symbols in with bright red lipstick. Like, for example, well, lipstick. Lipstick is Female Connection and Beauty and Freedom in an Oppressive-to-Women World. Lipstick, all that? Really? Oh my.The Poignant Moments seem painted in lipstick, too. The American soldier sneaking in to make love to our main character in…a burkah? No one noticed that the soldier, described as magnificently tall with blazing blue eyes, is taller than, say the average tiny Afghan woman in a burkah? And the lovemaking is really going to be all-that with our main character taking a bath only every third day, a main character who occasionally finds a deadly scorpion in her bed? And, most unbelievable of all, is our main character and her Afghan friend traveling to a nearby village to check out whether or not a school should be built there. No one bothered to ask the American soldiers (or probably anyone else in a hundred-mile radius) whether the Taliban were located there. Boom. Boom. Our Afghan friend is gone, along with the heroic American soldier (husband and father of two, eagerly awaiting his return home in two months!) attempting to rescue her. (By the way, I am giving nothing away. Believe you me, I am saving you hours of agony reading this book.)

[justjenniferreading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book. I loved it so much that I can't think of the right words to describe it, at least not any that would do it justice. The story was so heartwarming, sad, happy, and touching. It was so sad and yet was filled with so much joy. When I started reading it I didn't really expect the story that unfolded. At first I didn't understand the whole thing with the lipstick, but as the story progressed it was such a great way of tying the characters to each other. The story jumps a between Elsa and Parween until their lives cross. The tragedy that follows each of these women seems almost unbearable, but yet they've pulled through it and made the most of their lives. Both women are so strong and give all they have to help others. Even putting their lives on the line to help those in need. The romance that blooms throughout the book is such a great addition to the story. With so much devastation and sadness in the story adding the different romances kept the story enjoyable. Without the romance added in the story would have been so full of grief and sorrow that it would have almost been oppressive to read. Overall I would say this is one of the best books I've ever read. Gately's writing is amazing. Her ability to tell a story like this is nothing short of amazing. It really makes you think. And it shows that just because people are surrounded by hatred, war, and fathom doesn't mean you have to fill your heart with those things. Happiness is what you make of it and these characters really made me realize that.A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. This is not a paid review and is a truthful and honest review.

[vernefan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When looking at a magazine photograph of a starving family in Rwanda, young Elsa, living in Boston with her mother and disabled sister, vows to someday become someone who can help the needy people of this world. When she turns seventeen, her life suddenly turns around to follow that track when an ER nurse in a Boston Hospital helps her to understand the circle of life when Elsa’s baby sister dies. The continuing friendship between Elsa and the nurse blossoms into a mentor relationship, and soon Elsa herself becomes a talented ER nurse assisting with surgical and crisis trauma injuries. When Elsa’s mother dies in her sleep one night, she suddenly remembers the magazine photo she found fascinating as a child and begins to create a plan to follow her dream of one day helping desperate people.In the wake of 9/11, Elsa volunteers as an overseas Aide nurse, taking up a position in a small village in Afghanistan that will use her nursing skills in their local clinic. Not totally thinking things through in regards to just where she is going and what dangers may lie there, Elsa embarks on the journey of her life as she soon integrates herself in the lives of a village full of kind and loving people. She immerses herself in learning the language and culture with new Afghani friends to help her, and within a short time becomes one with the people of Afghanistan. All is not so rosy though. Elsa has touched down to the world of the Taliban where terror is instilled in the minds of the local people that hover in fear each night as they lay down to sleep. When the Taliban come to Elsa’s village, she is awakened in shock to the reality and danger she has put herself into. With the help of her new friends and with the assistance of American Soldiers on patrol, Elsa must dig deep into her soul to find her heart and place in a world of war and violence.This is an extraordinary, beautiful, and poignant story of courage and heartache, love and renewal, faith and healing, among simple people who yearn for peace. Within this gem of a novel, you will find tender romance, newfound friends that bond for life, and will learn the ways of the Afghani as they teach Elsa to cook, pray, sew up their injured loved ones and bury their dead. Marriages are arranged, feasts and celebrations abound, babies are born, and brides are adorned with henna and veils. The reader becomes an eyewitness to the glorious kinship between two unlikely women from faraway places that share common ground all based on their love of lipstick! You will laugh, you will learn, you will worry and you will cry, as Roberta takes Elsa into a world unknown that becomes home.All book club discussion groups should bring this to the top of the list for there is much to discuss and share here. For a debut novel, Roberta Gately’s Lipstick in Afghanistan should easily be climbing the bestseller lists at a rapid pace. Sensational book!

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Afghanistan continues to capture our imagination here in this country. It is a world away and so very different. And yet people are people no matter where or how they live. Customs and lifestyles might be different but those are ultimately superficial differences. Certainly there are terrible people like the Taliban, driven to impose their unforgiving and restrictive views on everyone around them regardless of the cost in human terms. But not all Afghanis are Taliban although certainly the vast majority of them have been adversely touched by this zealotry by now.Lipstick in Afghanistan is a novel that shows the resilience and strength of the Afghani people through the eyes of Elsa, an American nurse aid worker whose story intertwines with the local people. Elsa was raised without much but even as a teenager, she wants to give back, horrified, moved, and captivated by photos of war refugees. This drives her to become a nurse as an adult and she works for two years in a Boston ER before being eligible to apply for aid work. She is sent to Afghanistan, to Bamiyan to help out in the hospital. It is there that Elsa comes in close contact with the harsh realities of war, things for which even her time in a busy ER did not prepare her. But she also makes friends and starts to understand local customs, becoming particularly close to Parween, a young, widowed Afghani woman who speaks English thanks to her late husband's teaching. Elsa defies the rules about aid workers and soldiers fraternizing as she meets, befriends, and finally falls in love with an American soldier stationed in Bamiyan also. Despite seeing the fallout of war so closely, Elsa naively believes there to be no further danger, at least not any danger for her despite what her lieutenant tells her.Elsa's underpriviledged upbringing in the States is woven through the narrative of her time in Afghanistan and while this background helps explain her drive to serve, as a plot thread, it really pales in comparison to the lives of the everyday people in Bamiyan, ultimately becoming fairly insignificant. The tragedy and sadness that so many endured and continue to endure pervades the tale of Elsa and Parween's friendship. Elsa and Mike's burgeoning relationship lends a lighter air to the narrative but the speed with which it occurs seems a bit underdeveloped in the plot. Lipstick as a talisman between friends is an interesting concept and combined with it as a small sign of insurrection against the Taliban, it is a powerful symbol.Gately herself spent time working for an aid group in Afghanistan and she has drawn a grittily realistic picture of the devastation and hardship that has followed in the footsteps of war. It is clear that she admired the people she met in the country as her portrayals of her important, named Afghani characters is wholly sympathetic. The writing is at times a little clunky and simplistic but on the whole, this is an engaging story and one that humanizes. Readers looking for more novels set in the Middle East will enjoy this one, as will those in care-giver professions.