Behind the Veils of Yemen

Behind the Veils of Yemen by Audra Grace Shelby manages to be informative, entertaining and inspiring all at the same time.   Without falling into the trap of either sentimentalism or demonization, she puts a human face on the Muslim women she met in Yemen—women who run their lives according to Islam, and who know nothing about Christianity.

One of the things I found the most surprising about the book is how normal it was.   Audra is neither a mystic nor a militant. Even when she is actually quietly heroic she makes it sound natural.  Having lost her own mother on the mission field, she was surely acutely aware of the dangers of being away from good medical care, and indeed she and her family had to consider these issues. How risky is too risky? When do you need to return home? Is it fair to subject your children to not only a different culture, but different safety standards? She and her husband navigated these tricky questions with grace.

She influenced the women around her by actually becoming their friends. The watched her and became interested in her strange faith.  In reading this book, I kept thinking that this is probably an example we can follow in many situations.  If we really show love to the people around us, they will see Jesus in us, and become curious about the difference.

 And reaching out to Yemen women involves not just learning a bit of Arabic, but learning how to wear a headscarf, and behave appropriately in the local culture.

This book should interest anyone who is interested in what Islam looks like behind closed doors, from the perspective of women.  This is a very different picture from the common assumptions either that all Muslims are terrorists, or conversely that they are all the same as us.  We see through Audra’s eyes, realize that in certain ways the women are indeed the same – they want a healthy happy family. But in other ways there are drastic differences, and they seem peculiarly resigned to their lack of freedom or opportunities. 

All in all, it was a well written and interesting book, that gives me a lot of admiration for the author.

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Chosen Books Publishers as part of their Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ]