The Watermelon Boys: A Novel (Hoopoe Fiction) - Softcover

Izzidien, Ruqaya

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9774168801 ISBN 13: 9789774168802

Publisher: Hoopoe, 2018

Synopsis

Shortlisted for The Betty Trask Prize

It is the winter of 1915 and Iraq has been engulfed by the First World War. Hungry for independence from Ottoman rule, Ahmad leaves his peaceful family life on the banks of the Tigris to join the British-led revolt. Thousands of miles away, Welsh teenager Carwyn reluctantly enlists and is sent, via Gallipoli and Egypt, to the Mesopotamia campaign.

Carwyn’s and Ahmad’s paths cross, and their fates are bound together. Both are forever changed, not only by their experience of war, but also by the parallel discrimination and betrayal they face.

Ruqaya Izzidien’s evocative debut novel is rich with the heartbreak and passion that arise when personal loss and political zeal collide, and offers a powerful retelling of the history of British intervention in Iraq.

About this title

Book Description:

Shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize, a vivid, human story, an alternative narrative of First World War in Iraq

About the Author:

Ruqaya Izzidien is an Iraqi-Welsh freelance journalist and writer currently based in Morocco. Since graduating from Durham University she has also lived and worked in Cairo and the Gaza Strip.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hoopoe
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 9774168801
• ISBN 13: 9789774168802
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360