Correspondents: A Novel
by Tim Murphy
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Description
Spanning the breadth of the twentieth century and into the post-9/11 wars and their legacy, Correspondents is a powerful novel that centers on Rita Khoury, an Irish-Lebanese woman whose life and family history mirrors the story of America. Both sides of Rita's family came to the United States in the golden years of immigration, which we see beautifully rendered in the first part of the novel, and in her home north of Boston Rita grows into a stubborn, perfectionist, and relentlessly bright show more young woman. She studies Arabic at university and moves to cosmopolitan Beirut to work as a journalist, and is then posted to Iraq after the American invasion in 2003. In Baghdad, she finds for the first time in her life that her safety depends on someone else, her talented interpreter Nabil al-Jumaili, an equally driven young man from a middle-class Baghdad family who is hiding a secret about his sexuality. As Nabil's identity threatens to put him in jeopardy and Rita's position becomes more precarious as the war intensifies, their worlds start to unravel, forcing them out of the country and intoan uncertain future. Epic in scope, by turns funny and poignant, and moving from New England to the Middle East, Correspondents is a powerful story about the legacy of immigration, the present-day world of refugeehood, the violence that America causes both abroad and at home, and the power of the individual and the family to bring good into a world that is often brutal. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I love reading Tim Murphy's books. He is a master storyteller, involves me in his plots, always teaches me something, and writes beautifully. Christodora was spectacular, Correspondents only slightly less so and that was because it took a long time to get involved. I didn't need to learn about the family history or the history of the town. That kept me from becoming engaged and for a while I questioned continuing. Once I met Rita and her boyfriend and family members, I was deeply immersed in this story of a reporter for a major American progressive newspaper in Beirut during the war on Iraq. There was so much I didn't know before reading this book, but by the end I had learned enough to be even more ashamed of the US, and even more show more enthralled with the characters and story line. I can't wait to read Mr. Murphy's next book! show less
This is a story about being human, being intelligent, being.frightened, being traumatized, being loved and giving love, and the fact that there are similarities and differences and strengths and frailties among all humans, in all nations, a d all families. A young Irish-Arab woman becomes a war correspondent, and together, she and her Arab translator, survive. Survive physically and emotionally, yet the strength and determination it takes is overwhelming! A well-written, very readable saga,vI strongly recommend this for the times we live in!
4.5 stars. Sweeping in scope and intimate in execution.
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Author Information
7 Works 590 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2019
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 72
- Popularity
- 436,860
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.36)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 2
