Nine Parts of Desire - the hidden world of Islamic women - by geraldine Brooks, published by Anchor. This great book is written by an Australian journalist who worked for some years in the Middle East.

I have met and interviewed Iraqi women from a range of backgrounds, including Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds and women of both Sunni and Shia background. Some were spohisticated, educated and unveiled. Some were sophisticated and veiled, and some were from very protected backgrounds.

One woman who I will always remember is an older Turkman woman,face weathered from outdoors living, missing teeth, covered with tribal tattoos, who had a wonderful sense of humour. Her extremely beautiful young daughter was educated, intelligent and without the tribal tattoos.

They had both survived an Indonesian fishing boat which sank in the Pacific ocean, the survivors on this occasion were rescued by an Australian navy boat.