Publisher's Synopsis
CHRISTMAS INDIANA is a love story between Mandy Thomas and Mustafa Habeeb, both students at Indiana University in Bloomington. Mandy is born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, a small town in the southern part of the state. While in Evansville, Mandy falls in love with Mark Sullivan, a star quarterback at Evansville High School. Mandy and Mark share the same values and map out their life together to the last detail. In his senior year, Mark's football team loses the Hoosier High School championship game, for which he blames himself. Wracked with guilt for letting his teammates down, Mark takes his own life. Mandy is devastated. Her dream of a perfect future vanishes with his departure. Distraught and unable to cope with the loss, she thinks of taking her own life. Although she pulls through with the support of her parents, friends, and school counselors, Mandy makes a vow to dedicate the rest of her life to the cherished memory of the only love she has known. But Mandy's life takes an unexpected turn at a Christmas festival, where she steps into the world of square dancing for the first time in several years. There, amidst the twinkling lights and festive cheer, Mandy meets Mustafa, a handsome, intelligent student from Iraq with a heart full of hope. From the moment he looks at Mandy's radiant face and disarming smile, he is captivated. But for Mandy, the path to love is anything but straightforward. Initially resistant, she is drawn to Mustafa's empathy, kindness, and charm, and their connection deepens. After months of dating, Mandy agrees to go with Mustafa to Iraq and gets married there. But their marriage plan faces fierce opposition. Mandy's parents are reluctant to lose their only child to a foreign land they know nothing about, while Mustafa's family prefers that he marry within his own culture. Mandy's mother tries to get her daughter to break up with Mustafa by making fun of the way he eats and speaks English and by disparaging his culture as being primitive. Unable to change Mandy's mind, Mandy's father tries a different approach, telling Mustafa if he stays in America to study for his Ph.D., he will pay for his college tuition. Being a fervent Iraqi patriot who believes in serving his country and giving back, Mustafa sticks to his decision, promising to send a plane ticket to Mandy as soon as he gets a job. It is a heart-rending goodbye at the airport, and Mandy fears the worst. She has fallen in love only twice in her life, and she might come out a loser both times: the time to suicide and the second to geography. After taking his seat on the plane, Mustafa wrestles with a torrent of emotions. He feels guilty for causing Mandy so much pain. He also feels remorse for forfeiting the chance to get his Ph.D. and recrimination for being naïve and idealistic, guided by the simplistic notion of giving back to his country. As these troubling thoughts swirls in his head, the plane captain's voice crackles over the intercom system, informing passengers that a revolution has taken place in Iraq and the airport, and the borders are closed. Mustafa scrambles to his feet, bolting out of the plane, and running after Mandy. When he finally catches up with her, he gets down on his knees and asks her to marry him, to the applause and cheers of the travelers gathered around them.
