NINE PARTS OF DESIRE: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, by Geraldine Brooks. Anchor Books (Random House): 1996. 255pp. (HQ1170.B76).

The author, Geraldine Brooks, was foreign correspondent for the WALL STREET JOURNAL for six years in the Middle East through wars and the upheaval of rising fundamentalism. She gives an historical perspective of women under Islam and tells how she considers Islam's holiest texts have been misused to justify repressing women. She shows their daily lives in the various countries of the Middle East and the often contradictory political, religious, and cultural forces shaping these lives.