Publisher's Synopsis
A Middle Eastern love triangle forms when twenty-eight-year-old Shiawa marries the older Bahrus without knowing he is already married. She moves to her husband's village, Banaman, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and soon realises that she must share the house with a bitter first wife, who has never been able to conceive. In the house, she experiences the first wife's malicious actions against her, which only increase once she becomes pregnant and is likely to achieve something big. The troublesome living conditions in the village, where gossip, religion, status, and loyalty have a high influence, put Shiawa's patience to the test in her determination to pursue her own happiness.
'...she picked up many ideas for the novel from people she met, stories she heard, and events she experienced first-hand. This is what makes her novel The Kurdish Girl so real, giving a wonderful insight into the people, difficulties and culture...I can imagine The Kurdish Girl being used as a class reader or book club book with an upper intermediate group..."Linda Ruas, International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language 'The reader, who alternately feels like crying with the protagonist and laughing at the absurdity of certain incidents, is left wondering right to the end whether there is hope for a way out of a situation that becomes increasingly unbearable and even dangerous...The thrilling plot and often fairly simple language structures used make The Kurdish Girl suitable reading for learners from about B1/B2 level upwards...The many topics integrated in the novel, such as weddings, relationships in general, communication, gender issues, religion, restrictions, society issues, and intercultural issues, all lend themselves to further discussion.'
Elsbeth Mäder, English Teachers Association Switzerland
