Absent

Absent follows Dalal, a young Iraqi woman living in Baghdad during the international sanctions of the 1990s. She resides in an apartment building with her aunt Um Mazin, a fortune teller who reads coffee cups for local women. The story takes place against the backdrop of economic hardship and social upheaval as Dalal navigates relationships with her neighbors, family members, and a potential romantic interest. Through her experiences working at a photography studio and interactions with the building's residents, she witnesses how people cope with scarcity and uncertainty. Cultural traditions, modern pressures, and political realities intersect in Baghdad as characters find ways to survive and maintain dignity under difficult circumstances. The narrative captures specific details of daily life during the sanctions period, from power outages to makeshift solutions for basic needs. The novel examines themes of absence and presence - physical, emotional, and cultural - while portraying a society caught between preservation and transformation. Through its focus on ordinary lives in extraordinary times, it offers perspective on how global politics impact personal experiences.

Readers appreciate the book's detailed portrayal of Baghdad life during sanctions in the 1990s through personal stories and daily routines. Many note the author's skill at weaving together family relationships, political realities, and Iraqi culture through food, beekeeping, and traditional medicine. The translation receives positive mentions for maintaining the original's poetic quality. Several readers highlight the strong female characters and multi-generational bonds. Main criticisms focus on the slow pacing and meandering plot structure. Some find the protagonist's passivity frustrating. A few readers note confusion about cultural references and terms that lack explanation. Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (406 ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (21 ratings) "The details about daily life under sanctions make this story real and immediate" - Goodreads reviewer "Beautiful writing but moves too slowly without a clear direction" - Amazon reviewer

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🔸 Betool Khedairi wrote "Absent" in Arabic (titled "Ghayib") before it was translated into English by Muhayman Jamil in 2007, offering Western readers a rare glimpse into everyday life in Baghdad during the 1990s sanctions. 🔸 The novel's protagonist, Dalal, works in a Baghdad beauty salon during the sanctions period, where women gather not just for beauty treatments but to share their struggles and secrets—a detail that reflects the author's interest in how Iraqi women maintained dignity during hardship. 🔸 The author drew from her own experiences living in Baghdad during the economic sanctions, incorporating authentic details about how Iraqis coped with shortages by creating makeshift alternatives, like using henna when hair dye became unavailable. 🔸 Throughout the book, Khedairi weaves references to traditional Iraqi remedies and folk medicines, highlighting how people returned to ancient practices when modern medicine became scarce under sanctions. 🔸 Despite dealing with serious political themes, the novel employs subtle humor and irony, particularly in scenes where characters interact with UN weapons inspectors who regularly visit the building where Dalal lives.