Great Group Reads 2021 Revealed

The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) in the United States has named When the Apricots Bloom one of the top 20 Great Group Reads for 2021!

Join My Online Author Event

Find out where fact meets fiction in When the Apricots Blooms, at my very first US indie bookstore event. Join online from the comfort of your own home thanks to Foxtales!

When the Apricots Bloom in the News

2021 is off & away, with the Australian launch of When the Apricots Bloom – and the North American and UK release coming up on February 2. Here are some of the first reactions:

Hachette brings 

When the Apricots Bloom Down Under

I'm very excited to announce that Hachette will be publishing When the Apricots Bloom in Australia and New Zealand - and with its own cover!

Goodreads Giveaway!

Goodreads and my publishers at Kensington Books have teamed up offer 100 readers a chance to win a copy of my upcoming novel, When the Apricots Bloom. 

Discover Where Fact Meets Fiction

There's a saying that Cairo writes, Beirut publishes, Baghdad reads. I snapped this shot at Mutanabbi market in 2003. It's also the setting for a key scene in my latest book.

Meet the Voice Behind the Audio

What do Star Wars & When the Apricots Bloom have in common? The answer, is Raghad Chaar, talented actress and narrator of When the Apricots Bloom.

Buzzfeed's Top Picks for Historical Fiction 

Buzzfeed has listed When the Apricots Bloom as one of its top-rated historical fiction novels for 2021! It raises the question of what does or doesn't qualify as historical fiction? 

Apricots on Herald Sun List of Best New Releases for 2021

When the Apricots Bloom has made the list of the Herald Sun's most anticipated new releases for 2021. What an amazing honor!

Valio! Horea! Hooray for Lithuania and the Netherlands!

I'm celebrating the first foreign language sales of When the Apricots Bloom - coming to bookstores in Amsterdam & Vilnius next year. 

Buzz Books: Apricots in the News

When the Apricots Bloom has been named one of the '30  Great Reads' to be released in Fall/Winter 2020. The AP, NYT, Washington Post, and others covered the news.

New SMH Review: 'Mesmerizing Force'

Novelist Jessie Tu, author of the 2020 hit A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, dives deep in her review of When the Apricots Bloom, published in The Sydney Morning Herald.

A Bittersweet Honor from AWW

If you're not Australian you may not have heard of the Australian Women's Weekly, but it holds a unique place in our culture. It's by far the most widely read magazine Down Under. 

Christmas Comes Early: Goodreads Giveaway

Goodreads and the fine folks at Kensington Books are offering 100 book lovers a chance to win a copy of When the Apricots Bloom.

Fact Meets Fiction:

Finding Inspiration

I met these two little girls in 2002, not far from Baghdad’s Mutanabbi book market. The little girl at the front proudly showed me the dress she chose for her aunt's wedding.

French Flaps?

Ooh la la!

When my editor told me  When the Apricots Bloom was getting French flaps, I admit, I was relieved to discover it's not some new, painful trend in European plastic surgery.