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Nineteen-year-old Kate Brady joined the army to bring honor to her family and democracy to the Middle East. Instead, she finds herself in a forgotten corner of the Iraq desert in 2003, guarding a makeshift American prison. There, Kate meets Naema Jassim, an Iraqi medical student whose father and little brother have been detained in the camp. Kate and Naema promise to help each other, but the war soon strains their intentions. Like any soldier, Kate must face the daily threats of combat duty, but as a woman, she is in equal danger from the predatory men in her unit. Naema suffers bombs, starvation, and the loss of her home and family. As the two women struggle to survive and hold on to the people they love, each comes to have a drastic and unforeseeable effect on the other's life. Culled from real life stories of female soldiers and Iraqis, Sand Queen offers a story of hope, courage and struggle from the rare perspective of women at war.
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Reviews
"Every war eventually yields works of art which transcend politics and history and illuminate our shared humanity. Helen Benedicts brilliant new novel has done just that with this centurys American war in Iraq.Sand Queen is an important book by one of our finest literary artists."
Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
"Two women…wrestle with the complexities of war in Benedicts thrilling and thoughtful new novel…Readers wont soon forget [Sand Queen]."
Publishers Weekly
"An eye-opening novel that allows readers to step into the combat boots of a young, inexperienced female soldier living and working in a place where the line between friend and foe is nearly impossible to distinguish. Funny, shocking, painful, and, at times, deeply disturbing, Sand Queen takes readers beyond the news and onto the battlefield."
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