Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women

by Geraldine Brooks (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1995

  $5.50

  This is the story of the author's journey toward an understanding of islamic women, and of often contradictory political, religious and cultural forces that shape their lives. This journey takes her to Iran, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to Jordan and throughout the Middle East. She does find feminism, and makes other startling discoveries that defy our stereotypes about the Muslim world. Brooks offers an analysis of the world's fastest growing religion, and illustrates how Islam's holiest texts have been used to justify the repression of women.

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.25

• New

  Paperback
  2007

  $15.99

  Geraldine Brook's Nine Parts of Desire is a fascinatingly rich portrait of a little-known world that lifts the veil on the lives of Islamic women. This is the insightful, thought-provoking and at times humorous story of Geraldine Brooks' quest to discover the truth about women and Islam. From adopting a chador as camouflage to taking meetings with Queen Noor of Jordan and former Iranian President Rafsanjani's daughter, the author and journalist went undercover and deep into the heart of another culture. She met with Palestinians protesting about 'honour killings' for adultery and sheltered girls transformed into warriors by the Emirates' armed forces. Throughout the Middle East, Brooks was invited into the homes and lives of these women where she found real stories that overturn western stereotypes. Fair-minded and often revelatory, Nine Parts of Desire is an extraordinarily rich tapestry of the different lives women lead under Islam, and a captivating and diverse portrait of a little known world. This is reportage at its best. Geraldine Brooks is an award-winning author and journalist. She has written several books of fiction and non-fiction, including the international bestselling novel Year of Wonders and more recently March, which won the Pulitzer. She lives in rural Virginia.