Book Blurb:
At night, in Huda’s fragrant garden, a breeze sweeps in from the desert encircling Baghdad, rustling the leaves of her apricot trees and carrying warning of visitors at her gate. Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, lives in fear of the mukhabarat—the secret police who watch and listen for any scrap of information that can be used against America and its allies. They have ordered her to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador’s wife. Huda has no wish to be an informant, but fears for her teenaged son, who may be forced to join a deadly militia. Nor does she know that Ally has dangerous secrets of her own.
Huda’s former friend, Rania, enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the daughter of a sheikh. Now her family’s wealth is gone, and Rania too is battling to keep her child safe and a roof over their heads. As the women’s lives intersect, their hidden pasts spill into the present. Facing possible betrayal at every turn, all three must trust in a fragile, newfound loyalty, even as they discover how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect their families.
My Review: 4 stars
When the Apricots Bloom was a compelling and fascinating book about life in Baghdad for three friends. Not only did this book have an eye popping the cover but I got sucked in right from the start.
I found this story to be a great way to understand life under Saddam Hussein’s rule, especially as a female citizen. Their life was stagnated and undervalued in so many ways and their pledge to Hussein had to be blatantly shown or their life was threatened. When two ex-best-friends are brought back into each other’s lives due the arrival of the Australian Ambassador’s young wife, a three-person friendship triangle ensues. The government has threatened the two local women, by means of their children, which adds the suspense angle to the book.
The story is what made the book shine. Within the pages, Wilkinson touches on many relatable topics such as friendship, loyalty, trust, art, gender roles, parenting and of course has several “What would I do?” moments peppered throughout. Some of those moments broke my heart as feelings of being trapped and damned if you do, damned if you don’t came over me. The writing was solid, yet I could feel the author’s background as a journalist/foreign correspondent come through in some scenes.
The book had an added sense of credibility as the author lived in Iraq during Hussein’s regime. Years after she left, she learned that one of her closest friends in Baghdad was a government informant, reporting back about her activities and actions. I’m thrilled she took her experience and molded into a fictional novel.
Quotes I liked:
(From an ARC, and may be altered in finished copy.)
A secret is like a dove, once it leaves your hand I flies where it wants.”
“But she’d learned that in Baghdad, truth was like a blister. If you pricked the durface you only made the made worse.”
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