When the Apricots Bloom

Iraq, 2002. As night falls in Huda’s fragrant garden of apricot trees, a breeze sweeps in from the desert, warning of visitors at her gate. A secretary at the Australian embassy in Baghdad, Huda has been ordered by the mukhabarat to befriend and spy upon the Deputy Ambassador’s wife, Ally Wilson. To refuse is to risk her son being forced to join a deadly militia. But – though Huda cannot yet know it – Ally is keeping dangerous secrets of her own. Meanwhile, Huda’s estranged friend Rania – a sheikh’s daughter whose wealth is long gone – is battling to keep her own her own daughter safe from the dictator’s men. As Huda and Rania are brought together again, through their relationship with Ally, their hidden pasts spill into the present. Facing betrayal at every turn, all three women must trust in a fragile, newfound loyalty, even as they discover how much each is willing to sacrifice to protect those they love . . . Lose yourself in this evocative, emotionally powerful and completely gripping international bestseller, where secrets are precious currency and three courageous women are tested to the limit by a horrifying power seemingly beyond their control.