Observer review of Hirsi Ali book

"In her view, the entire Muslim world is fatally flawed, particularly so when it comes to women. When talking about the consummation of marriage, she writes: 'This compulsory coupling is, in fact, a socially sanctioned rape.' On domestic abuse, she says: 'Most Muslim families regard violence against women as something that women themselves provoke because they don't follow the rules. The family and social environment do not disapprove of it.' Can this really be true? ... Some of the stories of abuse that Ali tells should be heard, and horrors like female circumcision do need to be addressed, but it's hard to see how a book like this could help." Rebecca Seal reviews Ayaan Hirsi Ali's The Caged Virgin: A Muslim Woman's Cry for Reason.

Observer, 25 June 2006