Okay, I'll admit I got halfway through then had to return this to the library, but I'm definitely buying this once I get a job and can buy myself a bookshelf!

Anyhow, what I've seen so far is more of the beautiful and thoughtful writing Ms. Ghodsee had in her last book, The Red Riviera: Gender, Tourism, and Postsocialism on the Black Sea. That last one was about the history of women in Bulgaria's tourist industry and how they adapted to new socioeconomic realities after the fall of the Soviet Union.

In this book, Ghodsee turns her eye to the Muslim Pomak people of Bulgaria, especially in the town of Madan. She outlines the changes they experienced after socialism, their differences with the Bulgarian population at large and sense of Muslim identity, and their turn towards Islam and interactions with international Muslim charities as they sought to address the endemic unemployment and poverty that resulted from the collapse of the local mining industries. As with her last book, Ghodsee writes clearly and with great detail, and I especially enjoy the anecdotes which which she frames her discussions, and the way in which she narrates her story as a whole. Well done.

This is an extremely informative book at a time when we are seeing so-called orthodox Islam asserting itself around the world. The author tells the story of how Bulgarian traditional Muslims - Pomaks - survived the communist rule of Bulgaria. She details their habits - especially clothing, food and drink - before and during the communist period. She then vividly tells the story of communism's collapse and the massive corruption that followed. This in turn, of course, was a followed by unemployment and poverty. It is at this point that we learn how several Sunni countries sent in orthodox Muslim preachers and also trained new Bulgarian imams who would encourage local Muslims to embrace orthodox customs - not only about clothing, food and drink but also about the role of women in society. This is an intriguing tale weaving together communism plus capitalism plus corruption and giving the reader an insight into how politics, money and religion can radically change a society.