GUILLERMO THOMAS recommends an important, if dispiriting book about the neo-colonial culture of Uganda under Yoweri Museveni
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Courage in adversity
MARY CONWAY recommends a compelling and complex story of one Iraqi family, held together by their Jewish heritage
Or Yehuda memorial, in Tel Aviv, dedicated to the 9 Jews executed – altgether 14 were executed in public for alleged spiying for Israel including three Muslims and two Christians in Baghdad in 1969
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SUSAN DARLINGTON applauds the sensuality and strong characterisation of an unconventional ballet about an unconventional woman
BRENT CUTLER admires the plotting but takes issue with the politics of a new Scottish crime thriller
Tyrannosaurs in Thailand, colonialism as videogame, and a feminist gem from 1936
PAUL FOLEY steps gingerly through an exhibition that purports to show east and south-east Asian culture, and questions its intentions
New releases from Alex Wilson and Omar Rios Melendez, Hello Cosmos, and Harry Christelis
Um-Kamal
By Fawzi Ibrahim
KFI Publishing £11.99
IRAQ, throughout history, has been a source of wonder: the cradle of civilisation, the inspiration for the Garden of Eden while, in recent times, a stain on the collective conscience of the thinking West.
But what is it really like to live there?
Fawzi Ibrahim’s debut novel is a unique insight. Starting in 1948 and seen from this century, it brings us the compelling and complex story of one Iraqi family, held together by their Jewish origin and the steadfast, unwavering strength of a mother so purposeful that she pits her simple family loyalty against a military-controlled, hostile, anti-Jewish state.
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