Gina WilkinsonRezensionen

This story is written by an Australian author who spent time living in Iraq as a journalist. It is set in Baghdad in 2002 under the regime of Saddam Hussein and features three women living in the city. Huda works as a secretary for the Australian embassy and finds her life spiralling out of control when she is pressured into spying on Ally, the wife of the embassador. Circumstances bring Huda into contact with estranged childhood friend Rania. Each of the three women have their secrets, and each of them find their security threatened by the frightening underbelly of the regime.

I found this a gripping story that had me crossing my fingers hoping everything worked out for the women. The ending was possibly a bit abrupt, but overall I found the story to be atmospheric and gave me an insight into the fear and suspicion people lived through in this time. Generally I gravitate to books by authors native to their country, but there is definitely something to be learned from an ex-pat experience, as they provide a different set of observations and insights. I enjoyed the audiobook narration very much, although as with most audiobooks the rendering of an Australian accent was pretty appalling.

This suspenseful novel was well worth the read. I was quickly invested in each woman's story. Ally was kind-hearted but dangerously naive as she searched for answers about her mother. Huda wanted to protect her son, and Huda's former friend Rania was trying to protect her daughter. Too succeed, the women had to decide whether they could trust each other, but trusting the wrong person could be deadly. And there was always someone watching or listening.

This was hard to put down, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a tense, suspenseful read and to anyone who enjoys stories about strong women.

This is the story of three women living in the shadow of dictator Saddam Hussein. Huda and Rania were childhood friends in Basra but now live in Baghdad. Ally is the wife of an Australian diplomat assigned to Baghdad. She is searching for information about her mother whom she lost at a very early age. Huda is forced to inform on Ally, or her son will be forced to join Hussein’s fedayeen. The beauty of Rania’s daughter has come to the attention of Hussein’s secret police. Rania knows she has to get her daughter out of Iraq to protect her from Uday Hussein.

The lives of these three courageous women become intertwined as they confront the intricacies of friendship and betrayal under the thumb of Hussein’s puppets.

Full of suspense and beautifully written, this book reflects the terror of living in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s reign.

Excellent!

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 teenage 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.

An interesting look into the physical and emotional landscape of Iraq, based on the author’s own experience as a foreign news correspondent. The tale is quite immersive, dropping you into both the oppressive heat and the oppressive regime of the modern era. Contrasted with this are the memories of our one of our three protagonists’ (Ally) mother, who lived and worked in Baghdad during freer times a couple of decades prior.

A debut novel for Gina Wilkinson, When the Apricots Bloom is Part mystery, part intrigue, part women’s fiction, this was a fascinating read into a part of the world that most Americans do not have the opportunity to see or experience. As well, it’s a thrilling adventure told through the tenuous friendships of three women, each from very different worlds.

This book is highly recommended for book club readers and those who appreciate (even more recent) historical fiction.

A big thank you to Gina Wilkinson, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this review.

Please consider buying a copy of When the Apricots Bloom from bookshop.org – the online bookstore that gives 75% of each book’s profit margins back to independent bookshops – at https://bookshop.org/lists/best-fiction-of-2021.

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This book was a sweeping panoramic view of what living in Iraq was like during Saddam Hussein's rule. It tells the story of three women caught in the web that was Iraq during the late 1990's. Each woman is different, and each has their own heartaches and most of all their own secrets. Huda is an Iraqi woman who happens to work in the Australian embassy in Baghdad. This position gives her unusual power and influence for an Iraqi woman. Rania is also an Iraqi women, but she grew up in a privileged home as the daughter of a Sheik before the takeover by Saddam. Ally has dangerous secrets as well and she is the wife of the Australian diplomat located in Baghdad. Fate brings these three women together which eventually leads them to one common goal. Baghdad is not a safe place for many people during this time. Everyone does what they have to in order to survive and protect their families. Above all, they must keep their secrets from Saddam's brutish secret police. The book is full of twists and turns and suspense upon suspense. This is a debut novel for Gina Wilkinson so a remarkable achievement for her. She has drawn upon her own experiences as a war correspondent which makes this book authentic and a must-read for anyone who would like to know a bit more about Saddam Hussein's Iraq at the turn of the millennium. As always the cost of guerrilla warfare to women and children is much higher than we can imagine living in the western world.

Quick, easy fun read.

The story is loosely based on the author's actual time spent living in Iran under the rule of Saddam Hussein.
The story centers around three women. One is a diplomat's wife, Ally Wilson whose husband works at the Australian embassy. Huda is an Iranian woman who is a secretary at the same embassy. Because of her work with foreigners, she is approached and coerced into spying for the secret police. She is told to befriend Ally and find out any information. However, Huda soon find herself torn between using Ally and her connection to her as a real friend.
Rania is a former friend of Huda's. She used to live a life of priviledge but all that has changed under Saddam's tyrannical rule. These three women's lives intersect when they all find themselves in precarious situations that could threaten their lives or their children's.
Well written story worth reading! I received a complimentary copy as part of the Goodreads Giveaway program.

A suspenseful novel told through the eyes of three different women during Saddam Hussein's rule of Iraq. This is a lovely read of friendship, trust, and loyalty. The author brings her own life experience in Iraq into this novel which adds to the realism of this novel. One of the novel's best features is the number of "What would I do moments?" Stop and think, how lucky we are here.

This is a very slow pace of book, and I actually kind of loved it. It feels so perfectly fitting for the life the three women have in Baghdad. The dull slog through every day for Ally. The intolerable passing of time for Rania and Huda. The burn building just under the surface, while the face must remain impassive. Or more colloquially, like that saying about how a serenely gliding duck is paddling madly just under the surface of the water.

This brushed with some of the most painful things in life. It mentioned them, and moved on, because that's the way the women must be if they want to keep their lives. The brusque attitude towards horrors, the horrified casualness in dismissing them... it sinks in deep.

Plot was solid. Progression was slow and steady, and then the last third of the book absolutely flew by for me. No romance, just pain and love of a different kind.

This is an epic story of three women, fighting to keep themselves and their families safe. I jumped at the chance to read this story, since I love historical fiction, and this is really different than my usual “historical” book.

This book tells the story of Huda and Rania, two childhood friends who had a falling out, and no longer speak to each other. The story begins with them taking a blood oath, and jumps to many years later, when they are no longer talking or friends. Huda now works for the Australian Embassy, and is in a rocky marriage to her husband. Rania is a widow who owns an art gallery.
Enter Ally, a Australian diplomat’s wife. Although most, if not all, diplomat’s spouses are not in Iraq at this time, she was able to get exempted from that and lives with her husband in Iraq. This is the time of Saddam Hussein’s rule, and Ally is harassed on the street often, just for being Western. She also, unbeknownst to anyone, is half American, something that would (at best) get her kicked out of the country. At the time, no American’s were allowed into Iraq. At the worst, it would get her interrogated and possibly killed.

This story follows the intertwining of these women’s lives, and their attempts to get Huda and Rania’s children out of Iraq for their own safety. They eventually need to work all together to accomplish their goals. We also find out what happened between Huda and Rania, with some resolve with that. Also intertwined with the story is Ally’s back story, and her ulterior motives for wanting to accompany her husband to Iraq.

Overall, this was an interesting and engaging book. I loved the stories of the three women, and how their stories are separate, but then eventually come together well. The ending of the story is heart warming and satisfying, and I would highly recommend this read. This would be especially good for those who love historical fiction, and wants to switch it up from the typical WWII epic novel.

Wow! I’m never one to want a book made into a movie, but this is an exception. Someone make one...stat! This had me at the edge of my seat. It was so descriptive. I could visualize everything. Practically smell it even! Such a beautiful and culturally important story that everyone needs to read.

Wow! I’m never one to want a book made into a movie, but this is an exception. Someone make one...stat! This had me at the edge of my seat. It was so descriptive. I could visualize everything. Practically smell it even! Such a beautiful and culturally important story that everyone needs to read.

When the Apricots Bloom depicts the lives of three very different, but closely connected, women in Saddam Hussein's Baghdad. Huda and Rania are both Iraqi and were once close friends, but Huda's family has paid a price for participating in the unsuccessful uprising again Hussein, while Rania's wealthy and powerful family was able to save her from the repercussions of her involvement in the uprising.

Ally, the wife of a diplomat at the Australian embassy meets both women, inadvertently bringing them into contact with one another. Each of these women is hiding things. Each of these women is, at times, lying to the others. But they find themselves in a situation where lives depend upon their ability to trust one another, even as they are aware of the deceit.

This book is exceptional, both for the complexity of its central characters and for the glimpse it offers of life under Hussein. For too many Iraqis, there are no good choices—just bad choices and worse ones. For American readers the novel has particular resonance. That failed uprising failed because the U.S. government didn't provide promised support to the rebels. Read When the Apricots Bloom and be prepared to love the characters and hate the world they find themselves living in.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson has been widely reviewed and I've got a backlog to attend to, so I'll keep this brief.

Set in the near past of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2002, the story explores the fraught nature of female friendship in a surveillance state. Ally Wilson is an Australian expat, whose husband works at the Australian embassy. She is unable to work as a journalist for two reasons: firstly because of the conditions of her visa as a 'dependent spouse' and also because Iraq under Saddam Hussein #Understatement did not welcome foreign journalists. (They locked them up and tortured them before killing them). And while most wives in the diplomatic service give Baghdad a wide berth, Ally wants to be there because she wants to find out more about her mother, who had worked in Iraq as a young nurse, but had died when Ally was very young.

Lo! the staple trope of women's commercial fiction arrives on the page when the reader learns that yes! Ally has a Secret. One that the Iraqi authorities must never find out.

And it's utterly unconvincing. It's not credible that the Australian diplomatic service would let a wife travel to Iraq as a deputy ambassador's accompanying spouse when she has dual citizenship through her birth in the US and her through American mother. It's not credible that they wouldn't find out about it. The novel tells us that there was a blanket ban on American entry to Iraq at that time; it doesn't tell you that anyone doing any kind of sensitive work involving security clearances not only has to establish a squeaky clean record of their own, but also of their parents and grandparents. I'm not going to tell you how I know that, but everyone who's got an Australian passport knows that it carries the place of birth on the identity page. To get my first adult Australian passport I had to supply my full birth certificate, and my citizenship certificate.

Seriously... would the Australian diplomatic service, already viewed with suspicion by Iraq because of the alliance with Iraq, risk the entire embassy's security by not thoroughly investigating the background of its personnel and accompanying partners??

Anyway, Ally goes blundering around putting herself and others in danger. The hapless secretary assigned to monitor and report on her activities descends into a moral quagmire. Her childhood friendship with a Sheikh's daughter is resurrected. The tension mounts when the children of these two Iraqi women are at serious risk and they need to be spirited out of Iraq.

But female friendship triumphs after all...

Six-part TV series maybe?

I was excited to read "When the Apricots Bloom" by Gina Wilkinson, and it didn't disappoint me. While the book is fiction, the author writes from her own knowledge and experiences while working in Iraq as a journalist. This book is set in the early 2000s in Baghdad under the regime of Sadam Hussein. It tells the horror and hardships of living under Hussein's regime, particularly being a women.

There are three main characters two of which are Iraqi, Rania, a daughter of a sheikh and Huda her less privileged, very close childhood friend. The third is Ally, the wife of an Australian ambassador. All three lives become dangerously entangled, it's complicated and intense.

The book is well written with three strong, interesting women whose lives intersect. It's thought provoking and moving story about loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness and hope.

Wow! Such a moving and informative tale of life in Iraq under the heavy fist of Saddam Hussein as told by Gina Wilkinson, a former foreign correspondent of several prominent news outlets. Having lived as a "dependent spouse" in Iraq during the "regime", she has composed a well-informed tale which draws on her Iraqi experience at a time when the country was closed off to the rest of the world. From its reading one may ask, "In a country fraught with fear, suspicion and constant betrayal, can friendship truly exist?"

The story focuses on the lives of three women, each one harboring secrets too dangerous to share. There are the two Iraqi women, each from a different social strata and then there is the Australian "dependent spouse" whose husband is the deputy ambassador. The women's lives become intertwined and friendships are tenuously established. Tensions rise gradually over the course of the story, reaching a thrilling climax and gently easing to a satisfying conclusion.

For all the differences among the women, it is apparent that they share similar desires - equality, respect, safety for children, love and friendship. But one must ask whether such things may exist within a dictatorship. Just because one is paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get them. For westerners, it is difficult to imagine life under such strain. This story helps them better understand the similarities regular people around the globe share over their differences. It was a poignant story with excellent character development and exquisite description of scene. For those wishing to broaden their cultural understanding, then this may be the perfect read for you.

I am grateful to author Gina Wilkinson and Kensington Books for having provided a complimentary copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

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.

When the Apricots Bloom creates an immediate mystery with its title:
Who will actually know? Where will we be in the book when we finally know?

The author illuminates a time in history which has suddenly become a frightening possibility following the terrorist invasion and the murders in the U>S> Capitol.

The horrors perpetuated by Saddam Hussein and Hitler can no longer be confined to memory as trump's dictates have resulted in the deaths of over 400,000 U.S. citizens. Hussein poisoned the lives and spirits and bodies of the people of Iraq as they existed in total fear of the violent tortures of his secret police.

The lies and betrayals fostered by his actions permeated and divided the three friends - Huda, Rania, and Ally - and their families as they tried to help the children survive and flee to a safer country. The passions and concerns of each woman are expertly defined. Readers may feel relieved from the unremitting tensions by stories of Huda and Rania's childhood attachments. Ally is less deeply explored and so it may be harder to identify with her reckless pursuit of her mother's history.

A mystery is why people still stay attached to a country that no longer offers freedom.

Gina Wilkinson brings her experience as a journalist and "dependent spouse" living in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein and the Iraq War in the beautifully written When the Apricots Bloom. It was a wonderful read.

Books set in Iraq don't often come across my radar, so I was interested in this one (drawn in by just the cover). It's the story of three women: friends Huda (recruited unwillingly to inform for the Mukhabarat) and Rania (a sheik's daughter now doing anything to keep her and her daughter safe) and Ally (the wife of an Australian diplomat). Told in their alternating points of view, we get glimpses of friendship and betrayal and the lengths women will go to protect those they love.

Wilkinson's prose shines and I felt transported to Iraq. I loved the perspectives of Huda and Rania, who gave the reader a glimpse of life of ordinary Iraqis and Ally, a wife caught in the middle of something larger than herself, as most of my memory of the Iraq War (and the earlier Gulf War of my childhood) is of oil rigs set ablaze, endless controversy over weapons of mass destruction, and the statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled. This book calls to mind the history and cultural center that Iraq had once been.

A special thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I wanted to put this book down and blot the memories of what life was like for real people in Saddam’s Iraq. When Huda is asked by the secret police to spy on the Australian deputy ambassador’s wife, she has no choice, the secret police are threatening her son. Ally Wilson hopes that her husband’s posting to Baghdad will help her track down information about her mother who was a nurse there in the 1970’s, but she’s unaware of how her interest threatens the safety of her Iraqi friends. Huda’s childhood friend, Rainia, an artist is also drawn into the terror of the secret police when they threaten her daughter’s future by offering her to Saddam’s equally sadistic brother. This was so suspenseful and the danger so real, I, a lifelong Democrat, kept hoping George W Bush would ride in on his white horse to save them. This debut novel was inspired by Gina Wilkinson’s experience in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Don’t skip the author’s notes at the end.

Pretty good
I haven’t completely finished this book yet because I really just wanted to review it already. Overall I think this book is pretty good.
It truly is a beautiful story, it’s has women and friendship and all that good stuff and the plot and characters are pretty great too. The only problem is is that this isn’t really a book I would typically read and which is probably why it took me a while to actually get interested in reading the book, and why, although it’s a good book, it’s definitely not a favorite for me.
The writing is really good and there is a lot of imagery and details and I love how it was even based off the author’s own experiences. While the book was a kind of boring and hard to get into for me, I feel for the right person, this book would definitely be a big win.
Overall, beautiful story, beautiful book (I love the cover), just not for everyone.½

This novel completely surprised me. From the beautiful, lyrical writing with concrete metaphors focused on the Middle East landscape and culture, to the three-dimensional characters that grabbed my attention and jumped off the pages, this author captured the power of family and friendship and the decisions a war-torn, cruel dictatorship forced its citizens to make in the hopes of surviving and providing a safer life for themselves and their families.

I've read nonfiction articles and books about the leadership of Saddam Hussein and his brother, who, in my opinion, was even more cruel and inhumane, if that was even fathomable. The lies, torture, deceptions, and sacrifices Iraqis were forced to endure tested their values and morality and so many suffered unbearable losses. This author created a fictional world that felt as if it could be a true to life story and the powerful ending will remain with me for a long time to come.

This book is a stunningly beautiful and haunting portrait of friendship and camaraderie in times of uncertainty and even danger. The fact that this story is inspired by the author's own time being stationed in Baghdad only adds to the layers of detail and first-hand knowledge that this book expertly and touchingly uses to tell the story of women and how their love, friendship, and loyalty enrobe and fall away at times of stress and turmoil in their homeland.

I love how the scenes are described in this book and how they use all the senses to make clear to the reader this sometimes foreign setting. Reading this book made me feel like I was actually there and could feel the air and smell the spices and garden blooms. I love books like this that transport me away and make me feel a deeper interest and investment in the story and the characters throughout.