Al-Ramli is a remarkable storyteller, and in Daughter of the Tigris he creates
a dynamic, intricately plotted narrative, brimming with stories and a host of
memorable characters Susannah Tarbush, Banipal
On the sixth day of Ramadan, in a land without bananas, Qisma leaves for Baghdad with
her husband-to-be to find the body of her father. But in the bloodiest year of a bloody
war, how will she find one body among thousands?
For Tariq, this is more than just a marriage of convenience: the beautiful, urbane Qisma
must be his, body and soul. But can a sheikh steeped in genteel tradition share a tranquil
bed with a modern Iraqi woman?
The President has been deposed, and the garden of Iraq is full of presidents who will stop
at nothing to take his place. Qisma is afraid - afraid for her son, afraid that it is only a
matter of time before her father's murderers come for her.
The only way to survive is to take a slice of Iraq for herself. But ambition is the most
dangerous drug of all, and it could just seal Qisma's fate.