A Thousand Veils by D. J Murphy

A fellow Library Thing user passed this book, which she received from the author, on to me. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this book!

Fatima Shihabi had a happy childhood in Kassim, Iraq. She was educated in the same way her brothers were, and she was encouraged by her father to indulge in her love of writing. As an adult, after her abusive husband divorced her for not bearing him sons, Fatima is hired as a journalist for Babel, an Iraqi newspaper directed by Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein. When Fatima's writing begins to disclose too much about the plights of her fellow Iraqis after 9/11, she becomes a target of Saddam's Mukhabarat (secret police) and must escape from Iraq if she is to survive.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Charles Sherman, a corporate lawyer with former dealings with Saudi Arabia, gets drafted to assist Fatima in her quest to get to America and her older brother, a professor at Columbia. In the midst of a major deal with important clients, this is the last thing Charles needs, but the humanitarian side of him wins out and he tries to help Fatima.

A Thousand Veils is fast-paced and exciting, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The only beef I have with it is that the dialogue just didn't seem realistic. I thought the narrative portions of the book were very well written, but the conversational parts seemed stilted.

A Thousand Veils is the first book for D. J. Murphy, a former international lawyer, and he is obviously quite talented. I definitely recommend this one and look forward to future books.