The Old Woman and the River

Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

After the ceasefire in 1988, the devastation to the landscape of Iraq wrought by the longest war of the twentieth century the Iran-Iraq War becomes visible. Eight years of fighting have turned nature upside down, with vast wastelands being left behind. In southeastern Iraq, along the shores of the Shatt al-Arab River, the groves of date palm trees have withered. No longer bearing fruit, their leaves have turned a bright yellow. There, Iraqi forces had blocked the entry points of the rivers tributaries and streams, preventing water from flowing to the trees and vegetation. Yet, surveying this destruction from the sky, a strip of land bursting with green can be seen. Beginning from the Shatt al-Arab River and reaching to the fringes of the western desert, several kilometers wide, it appears as a lush oasis of some kind. The secret of this fertility, sustaining villages and remaining soldiers, is unclear. But it

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Interlink Books
Published: 09/10/2019
ISBN: 9781623719821
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.20w x 0.60d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2019 pg. 13