The Baghdad Clock
SynopsisPlot
Baghdad, 1991. The Gulf War is raging. Two girls, hiding in an air raid shelter, tell stories to keep the fear and the darkness at bay, and a deep friendship is born. But as the bombs continue to fall and friends begin to flee the country, the girls must face the fact that their lives will never be the same again.
Story
About this book
Baghdad, 1991. As the Gulf War begins, a young Iraqi girl takes shelter from air raids with her neighbors. In the crowded refuge she meets Nadia, and the two form a close friendship built on shared stories, whispered hopes, and the act of imagining a life beyond the conflict surrounding them. Shahad Al Rawi's debut novel follows these two girls as they grow up in a city under bombardment, where the ordinary details of childhood exist alongside sirens and uncertainty.
As the years pass, international sanctions reshape daily life in Baghdad. Friends and neighbors leave the country one by one, and the familiar city the girls know begins to change around them. The novel traces how war and isolation affect not only buildings and infrastructure but also relationships, routines, and the small freedoms that children take for granted. First loves, family bonds, and neighborhood life all unfold against a backdrop of gradual loss.
Al Rawi wrote the novel originally in Arabic. It was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2018 and became a bestselling title in Iraq, Dubai, and the UAE. The story is set across a period when Baghdad's population experienced successive waves of conflict and economic pressure, and the narrative stays close to the perspective of its young characters throughout.
