Introduction: the 'woman question' in Saudi Arabia -- From religious revival to religious nationalism -- Schooling women: the state as benevolent educator -- Symbols of piety: fatwa on women in the 1980s -- The quest for cosmopolitan modernity -- Women in search of themselves -- Celebrity women novelists and the cosmopolitan fantasy -- Guarding self and nation: women preachers and activists -- Conclusion: light at the end of the tunnel.