Keen-eyed and warm-hearted, The Soldiers House is a page-turning story of both American and Iraqi lives shattered by Americas Iraq War, and the long struggle to rebuild a safe place to call home. Helen Benedict brings years of research to bear in her compassionate, sharply-observed portraits of Army Sergeant Jimmy Donnell; his soldier wife, Kate Brady; and their terrible debt to Naema Al-Jassi, an Iraqi mother, and her captivating young son, Tariq. This moving novel brings to searing life the toll of violence and the balm of healing as these characters make their halting progress toward finding home, toward trust and truth, and building life anew. The Soldiers House is an important novel for our time, adding crucial depth of compassion and complexity to our understanding of wars trauma and the importance of forgiveness and healing. Kate Manning, author of My Notorious Life and Gilded Mountain
An unprecedented breakthrough novel about life after war. Once again Helen Benedict has blazed a trail in this brutal yet compassionate story of deep human perseverance. Compelling and beautifully written, it is one of the most important books Americans could read, not just about the war in Iraq, but about war in general. Cara Hoffman, author of Running, Be Safe, I Love You and So Much Pretty
Writing with rare passion and integrity, Helen Benedict brings to lightand lifethe wreckage of the American misadventure in Iraq. This is not only a massively good book, it is absolutely necessary. Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, author of The Storyteller of Marrakesh and The Watch
