Fiction
My debut novel The Watermelon Boys, was released in 2018 by Hoopoe Fiction.
Buy The Watermelon Boys in the UK
Buy The Watermelon Boys in the US
About The Watermelon Boys
The Watermelon Boys follows both a family in Baghdad and a young man in South Wales. Set during and after the First World War, both of their stories are shaped by the British campaign in Mesopotamia, and their lives are thrust together during the subsequent Iraqi revolt against the British occupation of Iraq.
Ahmad, Dabriya and their children are cast apart by the conflict when Ahmad goes off to fight. His return should be a happy occasion but they go on to struggle with allegiance, identity, discrimination and betrayal, and come to play an important role in the Arab rebellion against the British.
Carwyn loses his father at an early age, and is forced against his peaceful nature to join the British army. As a Welshman, he struggles with being part of an English cause that he finds increasingly hard to condone, particularly when it comes to the harsh mistreatment of Ahmad’s young sons by his superiors.
Reviews of The Watermelon Boys
Click on the links below to read the full reviews of The Watermelon Boys:
"In her debut novel, ‘The Watermelon Boys’ ,Ruqaya Izzidien forces the reader to confront the impact of European intervention in the Middle East, and masterfully so."
- The National
Buy The Watermelon Boys in the UK
Buy The Watermelon Boys in the US
About The Watermelon Boys
The Watermelon Boys follows both a family in Baghdad and a young man in South Wales. Set during and after the First World War, both of their stories are shaped by the British campaign in Mesopotamia, and their lives are thrust together during the subsequent Iraqi revolt against the British occupation of Iraq.
Ahmad, Dabriya and their children are cast apart by the conflict when Ahmad goes off to fight. His return should be a happy occasion but they go on to struggle with allegiance, identity, discrimination and betrayal, and come to play an important role in the Arab rebellion against the British.
Carwyn loses his father at an early age, and is forced against his peaceful nature to join the British army. As a Welshman, he struggles with being part of an English cause that he finds increasingly hard to condone, particularly when it comes to the harsh mistreatment of Ahmad’s young sons by his superiors.
Reviews of The Watermelon Boys
Click on the links below to read the full reviews of The Watermelon Boys:
"In her debut novel, ‘The Watermelon Boys’ ,Ruqaya Izzidien forces the reader to confront the impact of European intervention in the Middle East, and masterfully so."
- The National
"Not only does The Watermelon Boys open with a with a pithy (and rather memorable) epigram—“The present is an arrogant time in which to live”—but it is also Tolstoyan in the number of characters and subplots."
- Asian Review of Books
"Beautifully rendered in rich and evocative prose, Carwyn, Ahmad and his rich-in-love-and-humor family and friends come alive in a way that lifts the soul and sears the heart. Highly recommended."
- Historical Novel Society
"Izzidien’s writing is at times humorous...but most often it is sensitive and lyrical, her eye for detail enriching descriptive passages."
- Arab Hyphen
Interviews
Also read my interviews with:
"This story is set 100 years ago in Baghdad, about a Baghdadi family that is cast apart by war, and it is, importantly, their story. But it is also a British story; this is British history, told through the eyes of an Arab, which was an unusual, and satisfying, subversion to write."
Also read my interviews with:
"This story is set 100 years ago in Baghdad, about a Baghdadi family that is cast apart by war, and it is, importantly, their story. But it is also a British story; this is British history, told through the eyes of an Arab, which was an unusual, and satisfying, subversion to write."
Watch my video interview with Iraqi channel Irfa3 Sawtak:
