Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World

Spurred by her experiences as a young girl's mentor in Pakistan, American journalist Goodwin ( Caught in the Crossfire ) here surveys 10 countries in the Islamic world, interviewing hundreds of women and many men, concluding that the treatment of women is a barometer of the twin forces of modernity and Islamic extremism. Her book is solidly researched (she relates that Islam originally enhanced women's rights) and stylishly written, though her dependence on long quotes makes a few sections ponderous. Some of her stories are shocking: the sad fate of a girl bartered in marriage at age 11; the sexual abuse in jail of numerous women in Pakistan arrested for sex outside marriage ; the death threat against a Jordanian television commentator who criticized a smear campaign against women. Goodwin's account also includes thoughtful interviews with an Afghan resistance leader trying to use Islam to fight fundamentalism and an American-educated woman in the United Arab Emirates trying to balance freedom and faith. Goodwin suggests that the United States, overly dependent on imported oil, should beware of Islam's growing fundamentalism. (Mar.)