By Bruce Lyman STAFF (LWH)This was a very touching book which I couldn't put down once I started it. It's a heart-wrenching glimpse into life in war torn Baghdad after Suddam Husseim has been executed and American soldiers are patrolling this once beautiful and bustling city.
Bruce Lyman's writing is wonderful and I found myself caught up in the lives of two men, Aadil and Malik, and their families, . Two very different men but both wanting peace and to return to a happy life free from fear and pain. The fear is tangible and with you every minute of the day, the need to be always looking over your shoulder for something out of the 'ordinary', for fear of being killed. Malik's neighbour simply takes his garbage out to the street and is killed by a single bullet to the head in front of his young son.
Business is almost non-existent in Malik's little shop, where he sells shirts, and the street has been damaged badly by bombings, but he still has hope... hope that one day Baghdad will return to its beauty and his family will once again have money for food and can live normal carefree lives.
Little do these two men know that their lives will be entwined in in a strange and frightening way. Each chapter in the book is told by Aadil, and Malik. There were many passages I read, then re-read, as they described with such emotion the life of the Iraqi people's existence. The writing is beautiful and poetic and as I got to know each men I longed to be able to help them and free them from such violence and loss. It's a book about friendship, faith and hope. Malik believes we are all 'flowers' in God's garden. I feel so blessed to be living in a country that is free from such pain and suffering. Reading this book will surely touch your heart and you realise we all just want the same for our families.
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