Are beauty salons and book groups similar in any ways?
Aside from spas and some gyms, there are few female-dominated spaces where women can literally and figuratively let their hair down to talk and nurture one another. Book groups and hair salons fall into that category. When the sole independent bookstore in my town, Second Story Books, went out of business, I looked next door and decided that Donna Hair Design would be the perfect place for my book launch, which coincides with National Women’s Friendship Day on September 20th. Donna is also one of my best friends. But for me, the salon is a leisurely place where I feel totally comfortable and time stands still in my hectic life for that hour or two while I’m being pampered. In a small town like Chappaqua, the owners, operators, and other customers soon begin to feel like family and familiar friends. They’ve seen me at my worst, with wet hair, dye or foils — and on the day of my father’s funeral. Oddly, while the emphasis may ostensibly be on appearance, it’s a place where women feel to
