When the Apricots Bloom is the story of Huda, Rania, and Ally. Huda and Rania were the best of friends during childhood, however, the tragedy inflicted upon them by the regime tore their friendship apart. Ally is a foreigner whose husband, Tom, is the deputy ambassador at the Australian embassy. Huda works as Tom's secretary and because she works with foreigners the mukhabarat keep very close tabs on her. Huda detests the regime, resenting the fear they instill as well as the devastation they leave in their wake. She is completely reluctant in aiding them by providing information yet she also wishes to keep her family safe. When her handler orders her to befriend Ally, Huda is taken aback and highly resistant to the idea. However when the mukhabarat threaten her son's future and his very life Huda knows she will do whatever it takes to keep them at bay and to maintain her son's safety. Faced with this task that she has to abide by to some degree at least Huda decides to go along with her orders of being an informant.
Meanwhile, Ally is, at least initially, unaware of Huda's duplicitous role. She has discovered that being life of a diplomat in Baghdad is an incredibly boring and lonely position. Instead of sitting at home Ally is on a mission to piece together her mother's past. Poking around in the past can be a dangerous endeavor during the best of times. When you add in the fact that she's a foreigner prying into things she knows nothing about and people she knows relatively nothing about and, well, things are going to get sticky. Particularly for Huda who is walking a tightrope of deceptions.
By sheer happenstance Ally meets Rania and then inadvertently brings about her reunification with Huda. All three women are drawn to one another, forced to confide in and rely on each other to some extent yet each has a myriad of conflicting emotions where the others are concerned. In the end they must put their reservations aside and band together to save their families and themselves.
My only criticism would be that I would've liked another chapter or two at the end fleshing out the future even a little bit more. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. From the beginning the story pulled me in and held my interest throughout. In my mind's eye I could smell the refineries burning in the distance, feel the sand beneath my sandal clad feet one moment and the cool garden breeze in the next. Gina Wilkinson brought her Baghdad to life vividly.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington for providing me with an ARC. This is a book I'll enjoy re-reading in the future as well!
Meanwhile, Ally is, at least initially, unaware of Huda's duplicitous role. She has discovered that being life of a diplomat in Baghdad is an incredibly boring and lonely position. Instead of sitting at home Ally is on a mission to piece together her mother's past. Poking around in the past can be a dangerous endeavor during the best of times. When you add in the fact that she's a foreigner prying into things she knows nothing about and people she knows relatively nothing about and, well, things are going to get sticky. Particularly for Huda who is walking a tightrope of deceptions.
By sheer happenstance Ally meets Rania and then inadvertently brings about her reunification with Huda. All three women are drawn to one another, forced to confide in and rely on each other to some extent yet each has a myriad of conflicting emotions where the others are concerned. In the end they must put their reservations aside and band together to save their families and themselves.
My only criticism would be that I would've liked another chapter or two at the end fleshing out the future even a little bit more. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. From the beginning the story pulled me in and held my interest throughout. In my mind's eye I could smell the refineries burning in the distance, feel the sand beneath my sandal clad feet one moment and the cool garden breeze in the next. Gina Wilkinson brought her Baghdad to life vividly.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington for providing me with an ARC. This is a book I'll enjoy re-reading in the future as well!