Mahmoud Saeed Libros

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.

A Portal in Space, set in Basra, Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), follows the lives of Anwar, a newly minted architect, and the other members of his affluent family as they attempt to maintain a sense of normality during the frequent bombing attacks from Iran. When Anwar joins the Iraqi army and then goes missing in action, his family struggles to cope with uncertainty over his fate. His mother falls into depression and secludes herself in the family home, while his father shifts his attention from his duties as a judge to the weekly pilgrimage to Baghdad seeking information on his son—and to Zahra, the young widow he meets there. Emotionally engaging, A Portal in Space is a wry, wise tale of human beings striving to retain their humanity during a war that is anything but humane. Mahmoud Saeed succeeds brilliantly in bringing the sights and sounds of Iraq to life on the page—whether in a bunker on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War or in the parlor of a fortune-teller in Baghdad. As Zahra says of the novel she is writing: “It is a normal novel that contains love, war, life, deceit, and death.”

Set in late 1960s Morocco, the narrative follows a young Iraqi political exile, capturing the country's contrasting beauty and hardship. Mahmoud Saeed weaves a rich tapestry of human experiences, exploring themes of passion, politics, vengeance, and betrayal. This award-winning novel, now available in English for the first time, is celebrated as a significant work in modern Arab literature, offering readers an insightful glimpse into a pivotal era and the lives of unforgettable characters.

The narrative follows Mustafa Ali Noman, a Baghdad teacher who is arrested and subjected to brutal interrogation over fifteen months, enduring torture and isolation from his family. As he grapples with his reality, questioning whether he is dreaming, the story draws parallels to the works of Kafka, Solzhenitsyn, and Elie Wiesel. Through a straightforward yet vivid narration, the novel powerfully illustrates the arbitrary cruelty of life under Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime, highlighting the struggle to maintain one's sanity in the face of tyranny.