A common Sinhala proverb states, 'A woman's understanding reaches only the length of the kitchen spoon's handle.' In this beautifully written book on the effects of female migration from Sri Lanka, Michele Ruth Gamburd shows that the length of that handle now spans several thousand miles, rather than a mere twelve inches. During the past twenty years, a great many Sri Lankan women have left their homes and families to work as housemaids in the wealthy oil-producing states of the Middle East. Gamburd explores global and local, as well as personal, reasons why so many women leave to work so far away. Focusing primarily on the home community, rather than on the experiences of the workers abroad, she vividly illustrates the impact of the migration on those left behind and on the migrants who return. As migrant women take on the formerly masculine role of breadwinner, Gamburd explains, traditional concepts of the value of 'women's work' are significantly altered. She examines the effects