Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq
By Christina Asquith
Random House $26, 345 pages

In 2004, reporter Christina Asquith is on assignment in Baghdad when journalists in the city come under threat from insurgents. For safety, two of her Iraqi friends, sisters Zia and Nunu, take her in.

Zia is ambitious and outgoing, and her fluent English helps her find work with the American forces; she marries a contractor and moves to the US.

But Nunu’s anxiety and depression, caused by war, means she rarely leaves the house. Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, women walked the streets freely and worked. Now they must now veil themselves and be accompanied by a man for fear of rape or murder.

As well as the sisters, we also meet two Americans in Baghdad: Heather, an Arabic-speaking soldier and Manal, a Muslim aid worker. A rare, beautifully written insight into the haunting ways in which women have been affected by the conflict.