WHEN THE APRICOTS BLOOM is listed as historical fiction, but honestly this felt kind of like a thriller to me. The book follows Huda, Raina, and Ally and takes place in Iraq in 2002. The three women’s lives intersect, but they all have secrets that can tear their worlds apart.
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This book has a lot of secrets, a lot of “sitting on the edge of your seat” moments where you’re hoping the women find a way to make it out of the situation safely. Each of the women’s stories captured my attention, but I found myself really rooting for Huda especially. The story talks a lot about the secret police under Saddam Hussein’s regime, so there’s some mention of violence that some readers might not feel comfortable reading. Overall I found the book to be really interesting and thought the writing was phenomenal.
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One thing I was a little unsure of going into the book was a white woman writing about the experiences of two Iraqi women. The author’s note was really helpful in explaining that the book is drawn on her experiences of living in Iraq in a similar situation that the American/Australian character Ally was in. The author also acknowledges the need for “diverse books, written by diverse authors, in settings and situations that reflect the deep richness of our world”. Reading that put my mind at ease a little bit, but that does not mean this is the only book set in a Middle Eastern country that I will be reading this year. I’m looking forward to reading more books set in the Middle East by authors who are from the region.
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This book has a lot of secrets, a lot of “sitting on the edge of your seat” moments where you’re hoping the women find a way to make it out of the situation safely. Each of the women’s stories captured my attention, but I found myself really rooting for Huda especially. The story talks a lot about the secret police under Saddam Hussein’s regime, so there’s some mention of violence that some readers might not feel comfortable reading. Overall I found the book to be really interesting and thought the writing was phenomenal.
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One thing I was a little unsure of going into the book was a white woman writing about the experiences of two Iraqi women. The author’s note was really helpful in explaining that the book is drawn on her experiences of living in Iraq in a similar situation that the American/Australian character Ally was in. The author also acknowledges the need for “diverse books, written by diverse authors, in settings and situations that reflect the deep richness of our world”. Reading that put my mind at ease a little bit, but that does not mean this is the only book set in a Middle Eastern country that I will be reading this year. I’m looking forward to reading more books set in the Middle East by authors who are from the region.