The end of this book was quite interesting. I have to give the author credit for at least realizing her own prejudices and hang-ups regarding women in the Middle East. When she talks about how her memories are a mixture of good and bad impressions, I find that honest.
However, I still have some issue with how the book was put together. I almost wish the last chapter had been first. I think it would have given me some perspective to work with that didn't leave me such a bitter assessment of this journalist-turned-author.
It takes a lot of courage to admit you have prejudices. I'm not sure if my overall reaction to the book would have been different had the organization been a little more "up front", but I'd like to think so. If she had opened with an admission to her inability to accept the state of women in Islam based upon the experiences she was about to relate, I might have found her a bit more sympathetic. After all, she is the "main character" in this book and most authors want the reader to feel some kind of kinship for the protagonist.
Granted, this wasn't a work of fiction, so perhaps the same rules don't apply.
Overall, I'd say this book feeds into the Western stereotypes already so dominant in the US and like-minded countries. It confirmed our darkest suspicions about how Muslim women are treated in the Middle East. What it didn't do - and I believe this is intentional - is present any kind of insight into the benefits that might be found or the admirable reasons why so many women actually defend this lifestyle.
After all, the women were often some of the first to protest "westernizing", which in some ways underminds the image of the overbearing male tyrant.
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