Late for Tea at the Deer Palace by Tamara Chalabi

Late for Tea at the Deer Palace
Author: Tamara Chalabi
ISBN-13: 978-0007249312
Publication Date: January, 2011 (Originally 2009)
Acquired by Me: Sent from Publisher



Description Courtesy of Goodreads:



“A lyrical, haunting, multi-generational memoir of one family's tempestuous century in Iraq from 1900 to the present.”



My Thoughts:

To date, I have found no book that has captured my interest in Iraqi culture better than Late for Tea at the Deer Palace. It was simply amazing. The story is a personal history of Tamara Chalabi’s family for over the past hundred years. Her sensitivity and respect to those who have preceded her shows through every chapter of her delicate writings.

Chalabi explores how her family has adapted to the ever-changing political climate of Iraq. From the Ottomon Empire to the fall of Saddam Hussein. The Chalabi family is built on its connections to the community. Many of her family members have held prominent positions of influence in both the public and private sector. The men have each risen to their own measure of success—but it is the women in her story that fascinated me the most.

Chalabi is blessed with a legacy of strong women. Some dominating, some accommodating—all very aware of, and sensitive to, the political dynamics of the family unit, as well as the landscape of Iraq. With each generation comes a new set of personalities and relationships. Chalabi’s depiction of each person generates a vivid image of everyday life and happenings. As a reader, you celebrate triumph and mourn tragedy along with her family.

Something I can’t help but do when watching the news is pick a figure on the screen and try to imagine what their life must be like. I’d like to think that if I while I was watching a segment on the current state of affairs in Iraq and I picked a person—Late for Tea in the Deer Palace could be the story of their life. A story about who their family was and where they came from. What is it that made them so unique? All of these questions could be answered in this book. It feels as real as if we were sitting and having a cup of tea…with Chalabi telling me the story of her life.

I heartedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Middle East. It’s not so much about the politics of the country (although that plays an important part in the book because of its impact on the Chalabi family), but more about how one extended family coped and survived through some of the most impacting historical events that this world has seen during the twentieth century.

The thoughts expressed in this post are solely based on my personal opinion and have not been influenced by any other entity or being. Use of my statements may not be reproduced without permission from me, the author of Fall In Love With Books.

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