When the Apricots Bloom: A Novel of Riveting and Evocative Fiction

Gina Wilkinson based this book on her own experiences as a journalist and as a "dependent spouse" living in Iraq during the time Saddam Hussein was in power and during the Iraq War. When the Apricots Bloom is a beautifully written story about three women and how their lives are affected by Saddam's dictatorship. Ally is the young, naive wife of an Australian diplomat and Huda is a secretary at the Australian embassy. Rania, an artist and gallery owner, is the daughter of a Sheik, who has fallen on hard times since the death of her father and husband. Rania and Huda were childhood friends who have grown apart and reconnect during the story. Ally is searching for information about her deceased mother who worked in Iraq as a nurse in the 70s. Huda has been unwillingly recruited as an informant by the Mukhabarat, Hussein's secret police, to befriend and gather information about Ally. The Mukhabarat have threatened to put Huda's son in the fedayeen, a brutal, atrocious militia. Rania is determined to keep her daughter safe from Saddam Hussein's son, who has his eye on her. The story is narrated in their alternating points of view and provide the perspectives of a foreigner and two ordinary Iraqi women who must overcome the fear and mistrust, caused by the situation in which they have been placed. The characters were well developed and the reader develops great sympathy for their difficulties as "in Iraq, every friendship is a risk.” The descriptions of the danger and oppression suffered by the people of Iraq are terrifying and heartbreaking. The book touches on the history of Iraq and a better time when Iraq was thriving culturally and politically. Until the Apricots Bloom, is well-written, informative, riveting, suspenseful and highly recommended.

The author does a very good job with this book! It may be a work of fiction, but since it is based on the reality of what it was like during the rule of Saddam Hussein from the experiences that Gina Wilkinson had while based in Baghdad as a former correspondent, it felt so real. This is told from the three viewpoints of Huda, Raina, and Ally. I liked all three women and it was easy to understand why they made the choices they made. Raina was a sheikh's granddaughter but has fallen on hard times in the new regime. She has a gallery and a daughter and Raina will do anything to protect her daughter. She and Huda are childhood friends reconnecting after a long time. Huda had it really hard being a reluctant informant (since she was lucky to get a job as a secretary for the Australian embassy) for the Mukhabarat who threatened her son, and bribed her and her husband for information about Ally. Ally was sweet, a bit naïve, and trying to find out about her mother (who had lived in Baghdad long ago before dying of cancer when Ally was young). She is a good person though and vital to Huda and Raina in their plans. There is violence and fear but this is a good book and I am glad I read it, especially since it ended on a good note and was not a tragedy like it could have been.

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkerson was a heart wrenching, tear jerking history lesson that I wasn’t expecting. We are introduced to our three main characters, Huda, Ally and Raina who live in Baghdad during the regime of Saddam Hussein. Huda is a former extremely poor girl who has gotten a job at the embassy, and is reached out to by the secret policy to get information from her on her employer Tom and his wife Ally. She can’t refuse, or she’ll be thrown into torture and possibly her family as well. Ally is the wife of a very high ranking embassy employee and has a lot of secrets of her own, that could just put her in peril. Rania is a former close friend of Huda and a rich artist who is hired to paint a portrait of the presidents and his sons... and causes danger for her daughter. This book was extremely well written. It is a glimpse into the history of Iraq when tensions were extremely high, and regime was extremely strong. I have never read anything from this point of view where we see what the citizens go through and I genuinely enjoyed every second of reading through this book. The ending was shocking, the events were wild, it was one of those books I couldn’t put down. There are some scenes that are slightly graphic in their description as it is very hard to know their struggles were real. Im giving it a 4.5/5 stars. The beginning was a bit slow, as it was setting up the plot, but it was definitely necessary. I highly recommend checking this out. Its very different from my usual reads, but I really liked it!