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War and Me by Faleeha Hassan - 4* - My Review

Faleeha Hassan’s memoir about her life in Iraq, focusing on the war with Iran, Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, the UN embargo, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It also tells of her personal story – how she became a teacher and poet, her marriage, children, and how she eventually left the country. There are many sad examples of life in a war zone.

This book is extremely detailed. I think it could have been better edited (or perhaps it is a result of the translation to English). The writing is fine but not stellar. However, I think these issues can easily be overlooked to concentrate on understanding what life was like for the people of Iraq during these times of turmoil and war. It is easy for other parts of the world to be attuned to the political issues and what is shown on television broadcasts, not realizing that there was a wide variety of opinions on how Hussein and the government were viewed by the population. There were many factions, and these are explained in this book.

I found it extremely interesting. I think it will be eye-opening, especially for western readers. It reinforces how difficult life can be for women in this region. I always enjoy learning about our world and many different life experiences.