The American Granddaughter

In her award-winning novel, Inaam Kachachi portrays the dual tragedy of her native land: America's failure and the humiliation of Iraq. The American Granddaughter depicts the American occupation of Iraq through the eyes of a young Iraqi-American woman, who returns to her country as an interpreter for the US Army. Through the narrator's conflicting emotions, we see the tragedy of a country which, having battled to emerge from dictatorship, then finds itself under foreign occupation. At the beginning of America's occupation of Iraq, Zeina returns to her war-torn homeland as an interpreter for the US Army. Her formidable grandmother-the only family member that Zeina believes she has in Iraq-gravely disapproves of her granddaughter's actions. Then Zeina meets Haider and Muhaymin, two brothers" she knows nothing of, and falls deeply in love with Muhaymin, a militant in the Al Mehdi Army. These experiences force her to question all her values"--