The Watermelon Boys

Dreaming of independence for his country, Ahmad leaves his family at home by the Tigris to join the British forces fighting the Ottomans in the Arabian desert. Carwyn, a young man from Wales, travels to fight for the English, first in Egypt, then in Baghdad. Both are forever changed by their experiences of war, discrimination, and betrayal at the hands of the British army, and the heartbreak and passion that arise when personal loss and political zeal collide. Boldly capturing a rich cast of characters in arresting, lyrical writing, The Watermelon Boys offers a powerful retelling of popular narratives of the British campaign in Mesopotamia.

Shortlisted for The Betty Trask Prize

It is the winter of 1915 and Iraq has been engulfed by the First World War. Hungry for independence from Ottoman rule, Ahmad leaves his peaceful family life on the banks of the Tigris to join the British-led revolt. Thousands of miles away, Welsh teenager Carwyn reluctantly enlists and is sent, via Gallipoli and Egypt, to the Mesopotamia campaign.

Carwyn's and Ahmad's paths cross, and their fates are bound together. Both are forever changed, not only by their experience of war, but also by the parallel discrimination and betrayal they face.

Ruqaya Izzidien's evocative debut novel is rich with the heartbreak and passion that arise when personal loss and political zeal collide, and offers a powerful retelling of the history of British intervention in Iraq.