{"product_id":"a-stranger-in-baghdad-a-novel-9781649032867","title":"A Stranger in Baghdad: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF '51 FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023' (\u003ci\u003eWASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE BRIDPORT NOVEL AWARD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn beautifully rendered prose, a mother and a daughter struggle as outsiders in Baghdad and London in this intergenerational drama set against a background of political tension and intrigue\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Who would be charmed by tales of life in the beautiful old house on the banks of the Tigris—looted now no doubt, its shutters torn and the courtyard strewn with mattresses?”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne night in 2003, Anglo-Iraqi psychiatrist Mona Haddad has a surprise visitor to her London office, an old acquaintance Duncan Claybourne. But why has he come? Will his confession finally lay bare what happened to her family before they escaped Iraq? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir stories begin in 1937,  when Mona’s mother Diane, a lively Englishwoman newly married to Ibrahim, an ambitious Iraqi doctor, meets Duncan by chance. Diane is working as a nanny for the Iraqi royal family. Duncan is a young British Embassy officer in Baghdad. When the king dies in a mysterious accident, Ibrahim and his family suspect Diane of colluding with Duncan and the British.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSummoning up the vanished world of mid-twentieth-century Baghdad, Elizabeth Loudon’s richly evocative story of one family calls into question British attitudes and policies in Iraq and offers up a penetrating reflection on cross-cultural marriage and the lives of women caught between different worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This intergenerational drama is deftly written with graceful prose and psychological acuity. . . . Loudon pens the history of Western involvement in Iraq, dating back to the 1930s, with stunning acumen and imagination.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Arab\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An intimate, intricate portrait of how people’s lives are jostled and remade . . . an engrossing read.”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWashington Independent Review of Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A stirring novel about a family—and their involvement in Iraqi and British politics—who resist difficult times in Iraq, including political changes that have defined and highlighted their lives.”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWorld Literature Today\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] sweeping debut novel. . . . a meditation on the impact of colonialism”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDaily Hampshire Gazette\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The mastery of this novel is that the author gives equal importance to all the intricacies that she writes.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMiddle East Monitor\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A crisis of family and identity . . . recommend[ed].”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEnterprise\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A haunting, beautifully written book about twentieth century Baghdad and the long aftermath of colonialism. Full of subtle, empathetic details that ring like bells, intricately plotted with unforgettable twists, this book will stay with you long after you think you finished it.\"—\u003cb\u003eAnnia Ciezadlo, author of \u003ci\u003eDay of Honey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eA Stranger in Baghdad\u003c\/i\u003e is vivid and fascinating. There is an elegance to the writing which makes every page distinctive. I found it completely enthralling.\"—\u003cb\u003eLissa Evans, author of \u003ci\u003eCrooked Heart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Original, beautifully written and intriguing. Elizabeth Loudon is an exciting new voice.\"—\u003cb\u003eKatie Fforde, author of \u003ci\u003eStately Pursuits\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A page-turner that is also full of marvellous description and atmosphere. It feels beautifully true and of its time but with a contemporary sensibility. The conflict between Britain and Iraq at a political and a family level is brilliantly done, with the cross-cutting allegiances dividing and uniting in a web of love, ambition and lies.\"—\u003cb\u003eSofka Zinovieff, author \u003ci\u003ePutney\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An intriguing and thoughtfully worked examination of one family’s cross-cultural collisions between Britain and Iraq.”—\u003cb\u003eJustin Marozzi, author \u003ci\u003eBaghdad \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eIslamic Empires\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The story of Diane and Ibrahim and their torn loyalties to family and nation, and how their children grow up in post-royalist police-state Iraq, is told with mesmerizing power. Elizabeth Loudon's mastery of the historical, cultural as well as psychological details of such a narrative is truly moving.\"—\u003cb\u003eRana Haddad, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Intriguing and atmospheric\"—\u003cb\u003eAlice Jolly, author of \u003ci\u003eMary Ann Sate, Imbecile\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"American University in Cairo Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041976353111,"sku":"9781649032867","price":40.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781649032867.jpg?v=1750952444","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/a-stranger-in-baghdad-a-novel-9781649032867","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}