Most authors tend to view the issues surrounding Islam's treatment of women in black or white -- some attack the whole religion as misogynist while to others everything is allowable under the cloak of cultural differences. This book tries to wallow in the shades of grey that colour real life.

The stories carefully balance on the tight-rope of fairness. She does discuss domestic abuse, polygamy, child brides, genital mutilation and other hot button issues that many associate with the Arab world, but she explains that they are not as common as we might think. For every story of a miserable woman trapped in her marriage, there is a story of the peace that Islam brings to the wives who happily follow these guidelines.

She also looks at why Islam is so quick to adopt these anti-woman practices. The abaya is a cultural import from the Arabian peninsula while female genital mutilation is accepted practice for many Muslims in Egypt:

• It becomes insufficient to look at Islam on paper, or Islam in history, and dwell on the unarguable improvements it brought to women's lives in the seventh century. Today, the much more urgent and relevant task is to examine the way the faith has proved such fertile ground for almost every anti-woman custom it encountered in its great march out of Arabia... and when it found societies in which women had never had a voice in public affairs, its own traditions of lively women's participation withered.

It would be impossible to tackle this subject honestly without offending some people. I would read some chapters convinced that it was a PR job, and with others I was sure she was a bigot -- so overall it came out pretty even.

This is a great book to read about Middle Eastern women whether you are interested in feminism, Islam or western conceptions of the region. It certiantly isn't perfect but it is guaranteed to give you something to think about.