The Nightingale

By Morgana Gallaway

Book Overview

This riveting, illuminating debut novel tells the story of a young woman searching for freedom and fulfillment in war-torn Iraq.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758227280
• ISBN13: 9780758227287
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

War, Family, Love, And Difficult Choices

Wow. I loved this book. It occurs during the present day Iraqi war. Readers are introduced to Leila, a young woman living in Mosul who has high hopes and dreams for herself. She strives to become educated and pursue a career as a doctor. However, her parents are trying desperately to marry her off to her repulsive cousin. Her father is a terrorist and after getting a job on an American military base as a medical assistant and a translator, Leila is torn between two worlds. Her father encourages her to spy on the Americans and the Americans want her to turn in her father. Either decision she makes betrays someone, either her father who is randomly killing and full of hate or her new American friends and co workers who do not understand her country or religion, not to mention the handsome American Major she is falling in love with. The last couple of chapters are very fast paced and full of action as Leila's father commits a horrifying crime, making her an accomplice to terrorism. Will the choice she makes in the end be the right one? I sense a sequel here also.

Thought-provoking and real

I thought this book was very well written. The voice of the main character, Leila, who was a 23 year-old Iraqi woman, was so real to the thoughts and feelings of an independent woman wanting to mark her own path in life, but hampered by cultural roadblocks. The information given in this book about the war in Iraq was very informative and I find myself understanding more references to the war now that I have read this book. I also enjoyed the love story between Leila and her man and appreciated the fact that the author kept this romance very clean and innocent...such a refreshing break from today's literature. My book club group of ladies aging from late twenties to early thirties found this book to be a great read and would definitely recommend it to others.

A Must-Read!

What an excellent book! I typically read "chick-lit" so this seemed like a bit of a departure for me when I picked it up at the library. The development of characters, the plot line, and the style of story-telling keep you turning pages until late into the night. For a debut novel, this was spectacular. Not only did it give me something to think about as far as the war goes, it also kept me engrossed with it's love story. Extremely well researched and written. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially book clubs as it would lead to some great discussion. :)

incredible look at Mosul

In Mosul the al-Ghani family patriarch Tamir was a highly respected judge under the Hussein regime. A pragmatic moderate, he encouraged his children to be all they can be and urged his two daughters Fatima and Leila to obtain an education and encouraged them to dream. Leila wants to be a doctor and not forced into an unwanted marriage. When Saddam was deposed, he remained well respected and his family treated nicely though the income dropped radically. However, when the photos of torture of Iraqis by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison are revealed, Tami becomes outraged by the affront to his people. As hostilities in Mosul make the city extremely dangerous for everyone, he demands that his daughters adhere to strict Muslim laws, is thankful to Allah that Fatima has a fiancé sensible Khaled and informs Leila he will arrange a marriage for her. Leila obtains work as a translator at the American military base's hospital, but hides from her parents what she is doing even helping torture victims. Leila begins a relationship with Special Forces officer James Cartwright, but as Mosul explodes in violence she must choose between her father's demands and what she believes is the right thing to do. The well written forbidden romance between the American soldier and the twenty-three years old Iraqi female takes a back seat to the incredible look at Mosul when the firefight ignited and united the city against the occupiers. The story line is deep as the audience obtains a poignant often depressing look at what the war has cost the locals. Readers will appreciate THE NIGHTINGALE as Morgana Gallaway provides an in depth tale of clashing cultures when war devastates Mosul and threatens every resident as none will come out of the conflict without some loss. Harriet Klausner

A stunning, fast-paced, deeply textured debut

Flawed characters abound in violence-torn Iraq as Leila Al-Ghani, heroine of Morgana Galloway's stunning, fast-paced, deeply textured debut novel The Nightingale, rebels against tradition and religion and her family's plans for her future. Against the backdrop of Mosul after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Leila, daughter of a former judge, dreams of becoming a doctor. With a degree from Cairo University, Leila is well-qualified to start medical school, except for one major obstacle. Since the fall of the Hussein regime, her parents have adopted traditional ways. They decide to arrange a marriage to a doctor, believing that becoming the wife of a medical man is just as good as becoming a doctor herself. In light of their obstinate faith in traditional women's roles, the political situation, where the conflict between the mujahadeen, the Iraqi police, and the American forces have made it difficult for Iraqi citizens to leave the country, seems a minor inconvenience. To pursue her medical training and preserve herself emotionally, Leila agrees to compromise after compromise. She lies, prevaricates, manipulates, and betrays others in her search for a way out of her traditional family. The fact that each betrayal is forced on her by the circumstances of Iraqi society after Hussein makes her ever more poignant and vulnerable. At the heart of the novel is Leila's growing romance with the handsome but also-flawed American soldier, James Cartwright. A Special Forces officer, he has learned to deal with some of the atrocities he has witnessed by becoming emotionally withdrawn. As his relationship with Leila grows, it brings about a rebirth of conscience. With Leila, he begins to research the roots of a series of contradictory orders he has received. In a plot twist worthy of a thriller rather than a romance, Leila and James make some startling discoveries about the nature of the violence both in Mosul and into the wider arena of global politics. The most fatally flawed characters in the book are Leila's parents, Tamir and Umm Naji. A note should be made about the inherent sexism of the society, where Leila's mother is never addressed by her real name but only as Umm, that is, Mother, of Naji, Leila's brother, the male heir to the family, and never, for instance, as Umm Leila or Umm Fatima as Leila's older sister is called. Umm Naji stifles Leila at every turn. In the end, her intent in arranging Leila's marriage to a cousin who lives far from the violence of Mosul is admirable - she wants her daughter to be physically safe. The fact that her daughter would suffer an emotional and spiritual death from losing her dreams is completely disregarded by Umm Naji. Her lack of any reasonable response to her daughter's dreams and her complete subjugation to her husband's authority give her a chilling reality in the context of traditional and highly restrictive family roles. The tension and suspense never abate as the story surges onward to a stunning and unex