Displaced by the sectarian violence in the city, Maha and her husband are taken in by a distant cousin, Youssef.
As the growing turmoil around them seeps into their household, a rare argument breaks out between the elderly Youssef and his young guest. Born into sanctions and war, Maha knows nothing of Iraq's good years that Youssef holds dear.
Set over a single day, The Baghdad Eucharist is an intimate story of love, memory, and anguish in one Christian family.
Sinan Antoon is an award-winning poet, novelist, and translator. He was born in Iraq, and moved to the US in 1991 after the Gulf War. He received his PhD from Harvard University and is currently associate professor of Arabic literature at New York University. He is a co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya.
Maia Tabet is a literary translator, journalist, and editor, who has translated prominent authors such as Elias Khoury. She was born in Beirut and is currently based in Baltimore in the US.
"[Antoon] faithfully reproduces the difficult conversations between an Iraqi Christian family housed in Baghdad while the daily scenes of carnage are painfully recounted."--
The Guardian"A beautiful text, a testimony of the time of mud and blood that besieges Iraq and the Arab East . . . in very moving language, this Iraqi novelist writes his country with the ink of pain."--
Elias Khoury, author of Gate of the Sun"A novel about Iraqi agony. Iraq's history is condensed and elegantly portrayed."--
Al-Jazeera"Shines a valuable light on conflict that has been triggered from wrongheaded political decisions"--
The National"[A] panoramic view of Iraq, its history, its iconography and its bitter present. . . Antoon is fast becoming not only the voice of disaffection of modern Iraq, but one of the most acclaimed authors of the Arab world."--
Al-Ahram Weekly"The first novel to broach the tragedy of Iraqi Christians. . . narrating Iraq's wounds in a beautiful language." --
as-Safir
