Late for Tea at the Deer Palace: The Lost Dreams of My Iraqi Family Book

Maps x

Family tree xiv

Chronology xvii

Prologue xxv

Book 1 Fallen Pomegranates

December 2007 3

1 Duty Calls: A Busy Day for Abdul Hussein (1913) 5

2 Stacking Rifles: Hadi and the War (1914-1916) 23

3 All That is Good Will Happen: A Marriage Prospect (1916) 35

4 Sugared Almonds and Jasmine: Bibi and Hadi's Wedding (1916) 46

5 A Giant Broken: The End of the Ottomans (1917-1918) 58

November 1999, Beirut 69

Book 2 Replanting Eden

September 2005 73

6 Cafe Chantant: The British in Baghdad (1918) 77

7 Rebellion: Fighting for Freedom (1919-1920) 86

8 A New King for a New Country: From Mesopotamia to Iraq (1920-1921) 95

9 Fesanjoon, a Royal Luncheon: Faisal Visits Kazimiya (1921) 102

10 Banished: Out of Kazimiya (1922-1924) 108

11 Accidents of Nature: The Baghdad Boil (1925-1926) 117

12 In Between: A Home Between Two Cities (1926-1929) 126

13 Stolen Hopes: A Young Life Lost (1928-1929) 136

14 Bursting Energy: Hadi's Growing Empire (1931-1933) 142

15 Prison: Uninvited Guests at a Feast (1935-1936) 149

16 Carefree: Growing Up in the Golden Age (1936-1938) 161

17 A Dark Cloud: The End of a Generation (1938-1939) 173

18 A New Home: The Shadow of Death (1937-1939) 179

October 2006 185

Book 3 A Dangerous Garden

May 1993 189

19 Mountains and Floods: Domestic Changes (1939-1941) 191

20 Blood and Salons: Mounting Tensions (1941) 202

21 An Education Overseas: Mixed Fortunes (1941-1945) 212

22 Love in Strange Quarters: Of Marriage and Other Unions (1946-1947) 223

23 The Girl on the Bridge: Anger on the Streets (1947-1949) 229

24 Precious Things: Towards a New World (1950-1951) 235

25 Storm Clouds Gathering: Family Feuds and Revolution (1952-1956) 245

26 Defiance: A Crisis and a Key (1956) 255

27 Revolution: Slaughter of a Family (1958) 260

February 2005, Sadr City 279

Book 4 Fields of Wilderness

December 2007 283

28 Lost Lands: Seeking Shelter (1958) 285

29 Migration: Precious Cargo (1958) 289

30 Hunger Pangs: Yearning for Home (1958) 296

31 Arrivals and Departures: The Importance of Contacts (1958-1959) 298

32 Escape to Nowhere: The Threat of the Clown Court (1959) 308

33 A Temporary Home: Visits to the Park (1959) 312

34 Return to the Shrine: A Life by the Sea (1959-1963) 316

35 Of Carpets and New Blood: The Emergence of New Patterns (1967) 325

36 The Ruins of Kufa: A Coup and a Birth (1968-1972) 333

37 Civil War: A Shattered Sanctuary (1975-1981) 338

38 Creased Maps: A Move to a Different Land (1980s) 343

39 Lessons in Humility: The Loss of Everything Precious (1980s) 350

40 The Mortality of Gods: Burials of the Banished (1988) 357

41 The Lost Talisman: When Everything is Taken (1989-1992) 363

42 A Question of Identity: In Search of a Way to Be (1990-2009) 370

30 January 2005, Election Day in Baghdad 383

Epilogue 385

Glossary of Iraqi Terms 389

List of Illustrations 397

Acknowledgements 399

Index 403