Mosul, Iraq, in the 1940s is a teeming, multiethnic city where Arabs,
Kurds, Assyrians, Jews, Aramaeans, Turkmens, Yazidis, and Syriacs mingle
in the ancient souks and alleyways. In these crowded streets, among rich
and poor, educated and illiterate, pious and unbelieving, a boy is
growing up. Burdened with chores from an early age, and afflicted with
an older brother who persecutes him with mindless sadism, the child
finds happiness only in stolen moments with his beloved older sister and
with friends in the streets. Closest to his heart are three girls,
encountered by chance: a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew. After enriching
the boy's life immensely, all three meet tragic fates, leaving a wound
in his heart that will not heal. A richly textured portrayal of Iraqi
society before the upheavals of the late twentieth century, Saeed's
novel depicts a sensitive and loving child assailed by the cruelty of
life. Sometimes defeated but never surrendering, he is sustained by his
city and its people.