The Gardener of Baghdad by Ahmad Ardalan: book review

The Gardener of Baghdad (2015) is set in modern-day Baghdad, Iraq, during the time of roadside bombs and shootings.

Adnan has a bookstore, which his father started in 1944. Adnan is elderly, and all he wants is a ‘nice, safe place’ to live, with his family.

As he’s cleaning the shop after a bomb blast, he finds a book, written in English, with a locket – inside is a photograph of a woman. It is the journal of Ali, a gardener, born in 1934 in Iraq, writing about the sacrifices he made in the name of love.’ It ends in July 1958.

Ali’s father died in a bus accident when he was 10 years old, and he helps support his mother, who died 10 months later. So, orphaned by 11 years of age, he turns to farming and gardening for comfort and income. His diary tells of the first time he met Mary – she was the ‘red line’ that he should not cross. With his attraction to a woman out of his league, he tempts fate, and the diary describes the challenges of their love, and the story of the gold locket.

Adnan, intriqued by the Gardener of Baghdad’s diary, attempts to find out more – is he still alive, what has happened to him since the revolution of 1958, and does the next generation of his family live in Iraq?

It’s a quick read, with a simple, yet effective story line. Not brilliantly written, lacking style and finesse, but overall a light romantic novel with a sense of nostalgia for a time and place that was once a more peaceful Baghdad.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog