“Nine Parts of Desire”
by Geraldine Brooks
Published: December 1995
ISBN: 0385475772

(Updated: August 3, 2007.)

From www.geraldinebrooks.com…

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women is the story of Brook’s intrepid journey toward an understanding of the women behind the veils, and of the often contradictory political, religious, and cultural forces that shape their lives. In fundamentalist Iran, Brooks finagles an invitation to tea with the ayatollah’s widow - and discovers that Mrs. Khomeini dyes her hair.

In Saudi Arabia, she eludes the severe segregation of the sexes and attends a bacchanal, laying bare the hypocrisy of this austere, male-dominated society. In war-torn Ethiopia, she watches as a female gynecologist repairs women who have undergone genital mutilation justified by a distorted interpretation of Islam.

In villages and capitals throughout the Middle East, she finds that a feminism of sorts has flowered under the forbidding shroud of the chador as she makes other startling discoveries that defy our stereotypes about the Muslim world. Nine Parts of Desire is much more than a captivating work of firsthand reportage; it is also an acute analysis of the world’s fastest-growing religion, deftly illustrating how Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women. It was, after all, the Shiite leader Ali who proclaimed that “God created sexual desire in ten parts, then gave nine parts to women.”

I am so happy to have found and read this book!

Intrigued by Muslim culture and the role of women in this, wanting to find out more, wanting to understand some of the reactions and decisions and choices that come from within the varying Middle Eastern countries… this is how I began reading this book. And, I was so not disappointed.

Geraldine Brooks writes in a way that absolutely speaks to me. She describes. She explains. She draws things together and opens up parallels. And, when she injects her personal opinion, she is completely clear that this is the case. This is all perfect for someone like me trying to learn and understand and grasp the complexities, the samenesses, the differences.

I so hope that another book covering the last decade is forthcoming. And, in the meantime, for any of you looking to learn more about the lives of Muslim women in the Middle East, I so highly recommend reading this book. For the women amongst us, here or there, we are all women and are more the same than not.