Rating: 
Summary: A book I'd like to give my mom
Review: One review called this book "SAD", another "INACCURATE" and I think what is truly sad and inaccurate is the attitude that these reviewers displayed. It is clear to me that the problem they have is not with this book but with the religion.The point of this book is to show how families of women who converted to Islam have been affected by their daughters' choices. It is not meant to justify or criticize these choices - just to present them as food for thought and discussion. I think it is the author's hope that her book will open doors of understanding between those daughters and their families so that they can do what families do best - give each other unconditional love and support. A particular strength of this book is that the women who responded to the survey represent a broad sample of women converts to Islam. I think this is an important contribution because it helps to break the stereotype that women converting to Islam do it only because of their husband's coercion or because they are "lost souls". The book shows that between the two extremes there are many intelligent and open-minded women who have independently chosen the path of Islam. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because I felt there could have been more input from Muslim women in the *analysis* of the responses. At times it felt like the book was kind of a cut and paste job, with the author's comments here and there. I think it would also have been a better book had Anway gotten a broader range of input from Islamic scholars on the doctrinal information that she included. I felt that she presented Islam as having a rather narrow/definitive system of beliefs - and those familiar with Islam know that there is a great deal of variation among the scholars and the believers. In fact, the responses to her survey clearly show that the "other path" chosen by these women is not one path, but many paths going in the same direction.
Rating:
Summary: Honest Observations
Review: The author, Carol Anway, had nothing to gain personally by writing the book except to express her own feelings about what she had observed following her daughter's decision to accept Islam. As a result, Anway took the time to interview several other American Muslim women to gain a broader understanding of some of the perspectives behind their chosen lifestyle change. This book does a very good job of explaining some of the inner-experiences of a few of the thousands (yes thousands) of American women each year who leave what their parents have taught them and embrace Islam. No semi-intelligent person can respond to the spread of Islam with vociferous tones after reading about all of these intelligent western women recognized the truth of Islam and accepted it as their way of life. No compulsion, no duress. This is the reality. For those who have a difficult time intellectually comprehending the expansion of Islam in the west, a much greater phenomenon took place in the early decades of Islam after the death of Prophet Muhammad (SAS). Islam penetrated strongholds of Orthodox Christendom in places like Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq in a very short time, and until today those lands have remained predominantly Muslim. Any doubter of the authenticity of Islamic sources should ask him/herself why it is (and was) that intelligent, free people CHOSE to change their whole cosmology and practice Islam. Anway's book provides a little insight in order to help one begin to answer that question.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful for American Muslims and their parents
Review: This book is one that a friend told me to give my mother when I converted to Islam. Of course, I read it first! I loved it so much that I kept the copy and bought her another one. It's not a dry text about religion. It's a living breathing collection of the experiences of American women who have chosen Islam as their way of life. It might offer some insight for familes going through this experience.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the families of female Muslim converts
Review: This is a great book for families that are dealing with the hardships of a relative converting to Islam. Because of misconceptions about Islam, the conversion process can be diffucult, especially for those who think that Islam in practice is like the film, Not Without My Daughter. It gives a glimpse into the lives of Muslim female converts who are rendered silent by the media. They speak for themselves and articulate the choice to make Islam a part of their lives.
Rating:
Summary: good book in understanding the journey
Review: This is a great book, which gives an account of the daughter who converts from Christianity to Islam. This book is a very good for anyone who's family member converted to Islam
Rating: 
Summary: Not Quite What I Expected...
Review: When I purchased this book, I was surprised to find that it read more as a personal account of one woman's struggle to come to terms with her daughter's conversion to Islam from Christianity, then as a collection of essays by Islamic women about why they chose to convert. While this aspect of the book exists, I found the excerpted nature of the material, along with the author's piecemeal (and rather non-committal) commentary to leave me flat, wishing for more details about the individual Muslim women and their stories. This book is interesting, but not compelling, and I would recommend it more for people facing the same situation as the author -- committed Christians who are trying to come to terms with a loved one's conversion to the Islamic faith -- than I would to anyone striving to gain a deep understanding of what Islam means to those who have converted.
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