When the Apricots Bloom
Iraq

When the Apricots Bloom

by Gina Wilkinson

Women & Society Historical Fiction Literary Fiction 2021

Summary

Baghdad, 2002. Under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, three women find their lives entangled in a dangerous web of secrets, surveillance, and betrayal. Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, is ordered by Iraq’s secret police to befriend and spy on Ally Wilson, the wife of a Western diplomat. Refusing could endanger her teenage son, who faces the threat of forced recruitment into a brutal militia. Meanwhile, Rania, Huda’s estranged childhood friend and the daughter of a once-wealthy sheikh, struggles to protect her own daughter as her family’s fortunes collapse.

Ally, too, carries secrets connected to her mother’s past in Iraq, and as the women’s lives intersect, they discover that trust can be both dangerous and necessary. Forced to navigate a society where even friendships can become instruments of control, they must decide how much they are willing to risk to protect their children and reclaim their freedom. Inspired by the author’s experiences reporting from Iraq, When the Apricots Bloom is a suspenseful novel about female friendship, motherhood, survival, and the impossible choices people face under an oppressive regime.

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About the author
Gina Wilkinson
Gina Wilkinson

Gina Wilkinson is an Australian novelist, award-winning journalist, former foreign correspondent, and documentary filmmaker. During two decades of international reporting for organisations including the BBC, ABC, and NPR, she worked in some of the world’s most politically turbulent regions. She spent more than a year living and reporting in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein, where she experienced the constant surveillance and distrust that later informed her fiction. One of her close Iraqi friends was secretly reporting her movements to the authorities, giving her firsthand insight into how fear could infiltrate even intimate relationships. After her journalism career, Wilkinson turned to fiction while continuing to work in international development, supporting initiatives aimed at reducing poverty. Her debut novel, When the Apricots Bloom, draws on her experiences in Iraq to portray the lives of women navigating political repression, family obligations, and moral uncertainty. Through her storytelling, Wilkinson brings attention to ordinary people whose lives are shaped by conflict and political power, particularly women who must make extraordinary sacrifices to protect those they love. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

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Details
Published
2021
Author
Gina Wilkinson