High Tea In Mosul

n April 2003, as war in Iraq was reaching its climax, Lynne O'Donnell was among the first Western journalists into the northern city of Mosul. At the city's hospital, the senior heart surgeon introduced her to his wife - Pauline Basheer, a middle-aged mother-of-two from Lancashire who has lived in Iraq for almost 30 years. Whilst having tea, they were joined by Pauline's friend, Margaret al-Sharook, who arrived in Iraq in the mid-70s, crossing the border from Turkey with her husband, Zahir, whom she met as a student at Newcastle University. This book tells the extraordinary and emotional story of two Englishwomen, who married Iraqi men they met in Britain and accompanied home to Mosul. There, they assimilated, learned Arabic, raised families and lived within traditional Iraqi family structures. But they also endured the rigours of Saddam's regime- food rationing, thought police, anti-Western discrimination, and almost constant war. As well as revealing life in Iraq as never before, their stories tell an extraordinary personal journey.

Iraq, 2003. Three women sit down to tea in the war-torn country. When Lynne O'Donnell met Pauline and Margaret in Iraq she could never have guessed the wealth of stories she'd discover. Over tea the two women tell Lynne of their lives in the country: each having married Iraqi men had then relocated from England more than thirty years before. Far more than simply a story of a new life elsewhere, High Tea in Mosul describes how daily life slowly turned into a fight for survival. As war and political tensions slowly tore the country apart, the two women carried on in amongst the chaos. Under Saddam's regime, peace was lost and the backdrop of 'violence, terror and dictatorship' played constantly in the background. Time spent in their adopted homeland slowly became a time spent in isolation, under imposed regulations and sanctions, and shunned by prejudice. While news screens across the globe played out the latest tragic news for audiences watching from the comfort of their living rooms, High Tea in Mosul brings the reader into the heart of the horror and shows what everyday life was really like for those whose lives were affected irreparably. One of the first Western journalists in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Lynne O'Donnell provides a unique insight and first-hand account into a war-torn country, as well as a riveting portrayal of two women's will against all odds. A story of resilience in its purest form. Praise for High Tea in Mosul "The great strength of High Tea in Mosul is to reveal the flesh-and-blood world behind the impersonal blur of headlines... [O'Donnell] captures with stark simplicity what it's like to live with ceaseless fear and violence." - Time Magazine "O'Donnell's emotional narrative examines Iraqi life in its entirety and shows that there is more to the country than violence and war... [she] adds a human element to the developing history of a turbulent nation" - Publishers Weekly "Fascinating and often poignant... From Biblical days through the Ottoman empire, to the wealth of oil and the rule of Saddam Hussein, and finally through the appallingly short-sighted mistakes made by the US occupation, O'Donnell presents a city that is beautiful, proud, rich in ancient tradition and culture, educated, and finally almost completely destroyed by war" - Perspective Travel "A clear-eyed documentary of the tragedy of being born an ordinary Iraqi" - Hugh Pope "An immaculately researched, multifaceted and deeply personal story, through which O'Donnell tacitly conveys her own love and sympathy for the unraveling country" -Anna Badkhen, foreign and national correspondent, San Francisco Chronicle "Lynne O'Donnell is a fine writer and a brave woman. She has a powerful story to tell" - The Observer "An excellent, insightful work that demonstrates how much was lost in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and a powerful examination of the suffering endured by the people who live there" - Con Coughlin "Lynne O'Donnell has not only written an excellent analytical book about Iraq but has managed to convey the tragedy of the war in a powerful humane manner. She represents one of the best examples of "peace journalism", which seeks to give war a human face" - Pacific Rim Book Review "An excellent read. O'Donnell writes directly, punchily, at times lyrically, but always with an objective and self-effacing flair. This is a harrowing story but she refuses to allow it to descend into the maudlin" - Asian Review of Books Lynne O'Donnell is an award-winning Australian journalist and author. She is currently employed as the Afghanistan bureau chief for the Associated Press and has reported from Afghanistan, Australia and North Korea.

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