It is an interesting non-fiction account of the author’s interactions with women from several Muslim countries – their lives, the rituals, rules, regulations.
Geraldine Brooks treads the middle path of questioning the things passed on as religion while rationalizing some of the regressive aspects of the Muslim countries.
It was interesting to note what Geraldine’s colleague Asya had to say in justifying the role of burqa - ‘burqa-clad women are treated as equals based on their intellect not as sex objects.’
The book discusses the origin of a lot of practices like child marriage, polygamy, role of women, etc and their relevance in today’s society.
Frankly a general non-Muslim understands this culture only so much, but surely to world’s second largest population it must make sense. Even the most popular books that have come out on Muslim countries, have done little to create a good picture, say Not without my daughter, for example.
Geraldine attempts to strike a balance between criticizing the customs that stifles an individual’s (read woman’s) rights, and yet not being too judgmental about Muslim women who are comfortable in the safety of their ‘hijab’.
Personally, I learnt a lot about women in Muslim countries and I think this book will appeal to everyone who has interests in studies related to culture, religion and women. There are horrifying rituals, unbelievable stories, unjustifiable customs accepted and followed the world over. I think the book surely does some justice to the genre. In fact there are stories of several courageous women who overcame the limitations of hijab and participated in sports, politics, education and public affairs, which will appeal to the readers.
I also came across this interesting write up which is ‘a Muslim response to the book’.
