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  • When the Apricots Bloom

  • By: Gina Wilkinson
  • Narrated by: Raghad Chaar
  • Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

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When the Apricots Bloom

By: Gina Wilkinson
Narrated by: Raghad Chaar
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Publisher's Summary

Three very different women must confront how far they will go to protect their families, under the ruthless rule of a dictator.

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 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 and completely gripping best seller, where secrets are precious currency and three courageous women are tested to the limit by a horrifying power seemingly beyond their control.

©2020 Gina Wilkinson (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group

Critic Reviews

"Thrilling yet heart-wrenching.... This must-read novel is mesmerizing, captivating, and profound." (Deborah Rodriguez, million-copy best-selling author of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul)

"Baghdad springs into vivid violent life.... Outstanding!" (Dinah Jefferies, number one Sunday Times best-selling author of The Tea Planter's Wife)

What listeners say about When the Apricots Bloom

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, poor narrator

I was so looking forward to reading this. It was an interesting read, written with pieces of brilliance, but mostly mediocrity. This book had the potential to be so much better. I couldn't get into this book, was a good storyline, and felt like the author was just telling the story, forgetting the setting. I would have like more descriptive writing. I kept falling asleep, which rarely happens when I listen to a book, narrator was below average, perhaps a novice, mostly just reading aloud with little emotion, the Australian accent was so wrong in this setting. Perhaps reading hard copy may be a better option.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Story

This book has made me eager to learn more about Iraq's Golden age & the political history that brought Saddam to power.

I really enjoyed this story, although the Australian accent grated a little in the narration, I got so engrossed in the plot I could ignore it!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Aussie accents

Bad Australian accents and a clunky story. Much telling, little showing. I wasn't drawn in at all. I don't believe living in a place for a year gives you licence to tell local stories.

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