Summary by Ryan E. Ruffcorn
02/04/03

In the book Nine Parts of Desire:The Hidden World of Islamic Women, Geraldine Brooks tells powerful stories about women in the Middle East and how they have overcome the gender specific repressive laws of Islam. In the chapters “The Queen”, “Risky Business”, and “Conclusion: Beware of Dogma” she not only shows women who have learned to live and use the system but warns the reader about any religion like Islam, which believes it has a complete system for how people should live.

In the chapters “The Queen” and “Risky Business” she examines women who have taken on important or powerful roles in their repressive societies. In “The Queen”, Queen Noor is a United States citizen with Syrian ancestry who married the King of Jordan. In “Risky Business” there are the female business owners or women who work outside the home. In each case the women have to fight social norms. Even though many of the women have husbands who support their activities, society at large is loath to accept them, and specifically in Queen Noor’s case it becomes apparent that her position makes her an easy target when things go awry politically or economically. 

In the conclusion, Brooks questions many religions, “At some point every religion, especially one that purports to encompass a complete way of life and system of government, has to be called into account for the kind of life it offers the people in the lands where it predominates (231).” Though this is a book about women in conservative Islamic societies, women’s repression is not merely an Islamic phenomenon but is prevalent in many religions.