Nine Parts of Desire : The Hidden World of Islamic Women - Softcover

Geraldine Brooks

4.05

14,357 ratings by Goodreads

9780140244656: Nine Parts of Desire : The Hidden World of Islamic Women

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140244654 ISBN 13: 9780140244656

Publisher: Penguin, 1996

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This is a study of Islamic women, and of the often contradictory political, religious and cultural forces that shape their lives. The book examines Iran, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan and the Middle East. It argues that there is feminism amongst Islamic women, and reveals other startling discoveries that defy western stereotypes about the Muslin world. This study offers an acute analysis of the world's fastest growing religion, and illustrates how Islam's holy texts have been used to justify the repression of women.

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Review:

Geraldine Brooks spent two years as a Middle East news correspondent, covering the death of Khomeini and the like. She also learned a lot about what it's like for Islamic women today. Brooks' book is exceedingly well-done--she knows her Islamic lore and traces the origins of today's practices back to Mohammed's time. Personable and very readable, Brooks takes us through the women's back door entrance of the Middle East for an unusual and provocative view.

From the Author:

This, my first book, was published back in 1994. I wish I could say that change and progress in the lives of the women I lived among and wrote about has made the book outdated. Sadly, that is not the case. The insights I shared are still depressingly relevant and our need to understand even more pressing.

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