Joana, the youngest of the five children to a Turk mother and Arab father from Iraq was born in Baqdad during the war between Kurd freedom fighters and Iraq forces. At the young age her father, Al- Askari lost his hearing and was not able to speak. Joana grew up in Bagdad with her siblings while visits her mother’s Kurdish family residing in Sulaimaniya. Her siblings suffered various insults as they were half Sunnis and half Shia. Her brothers were beaten and were many times a target of injustice. She completed university in agricultural engineering .Her brother in law and brother was beaten by the Iraqi secret service agents and spent imprisonment of months in Abu-Ghuraib Jail, which was famous for cruel torture. Her brother Raad, who was mistreated and lost his business during the regime left Iraq for good and settled in Switzerland. Joana who was also interrogated by Secret service agents when she was working in a tourist travel agency escaped her secound interrogation when she left to Sulaimaniya to get married to Sarbast, to whom she fell in love with she was just fifteen. But Sarbast was not interested in her until he was dumped by another female to whom he asked to marry. Sarbast wrote to Joana declaring his love for her when he was fighting against Sadam’s forces in the Kurds mountains. The letters were reached to Joana by hands to avoid Sadam’s spy. He wrote to Joana in that difficult situation till Joana agreed to marry him. Sarbast who is peshmerga, a freedom fighter, a warrior, Joana always wanted to spend rest of her life.
Her childhood experiences also caused Joana promising herself that she will someday join Peshmerga and fight for freedom of her land. Her dream came true when she got married to a freedom fighter and had to live in the mountain areas of Kurds. However, she was not safe. She experienced two chemical e attacks while she was in the mountain range and lost her unborn child. Her eyes were affected by the chemical and her husband, Sarbast took her to Iran for medical attention. In Iran they have been hostile due to the ongoing war between Iraq and Iran. She was not given proper medical attention in her labour because she was an Arab from Baqdad. However, finally with the help of her elder brother, Raad, Joana, Sarbast and their son managed to fly to London and got refugee status. Now the family live in London and Joana worked for British Airways while her husband is an engineer. She has two sons and her mother is living with her in London. This novel tells a struggle of a women, Joana’s mother, her sisters and finally herself. It also highlighted the problems in gulf and the cruel attacks of Sadam regime. The divide between Sunni and Shia and the stories of various corrupted officials in government. It is a very beautiful novel which is worth reading.
