I thought this book took too long to get to its heart, and buried a compelling story under a lot of extraneous details. Rita is an American journalist of Irish/Lebanese heritage who is sent to Baghdad to cover Bush’s war against Saddam Hussein. Nabil, a young Iraqi who speaks excellent English, is assigned to work as her interpreter. The story of life in Baghdad during the war and of refugees in Syria and America was interesting. So was the story of Nabil’s coming to terms with his homosexuality in an Arab country.

Unfortunately, the book starts off with a prologue that telegraphs a tragedy that will occur in 2008 near the end of the book. Then the book skips back to 1912 to tell the history of the two strains of Rita’s family up to the 1980s. This took up 20% of the book and I found it completely unnecessary. It even included a totally gratuitous incidence of child abuse by a Catholic priest that was never referred to again in the book. The book then goes to 2002 where Rita is living in Beirut, hanging around with a bunch of journalists, and having an affair with a rich, Palestinian playboy. The book doesn’t actually get to the war, and chasing stories as war correspondents, until almost the 50% point. I would have preferred it if Rita had been only a secondary character in the book and the focus had stayed on Nabil, his family and the war. I thought the book was too meandering, so it was just ok for me.

One note about the audio book. There were at least three instances where sentences were repeated. I suspect that the narrator redid a sentence but the first attempt was not edited out. I’ve never encountered that problem before and it should be fixed.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Tim Murphy's last book "Christodora" is one of the most memorable novels I have read in a long time. When I saw that he had another book being released, I was excited to delve into the it. "Correspondents" has some elements of the same style of book. It is a large, sweeping novel across several decades, involving a unique cast of characters and plots that are just devastating, but also very political. "Correspondents" has two main threads. The first is the journey of Rita Khoury, a Irish-Arab American who goes from college to being a correspondent in the middle east. When Bush invades Iraq after 9-11, she is sent to be a reporter. This is when the second main thread appears. Nabil al-Jumaili is a young man, obsessed with English novels, and through his cousin, he gets a job of being Rita's interpreter. This novel is filled with danger (political and physical), and even though it took me a long time to get through this, the journey is just so rewarding, that I suggest anyone to take the same trip. What you will see if that "Correspondents" is an example of how there is no clear cut answer to any political situation, that regardless of whether you think you are doing the right thing, there are people who will disagree, who will get hurt in the process, and will think that the solutions are not nearly as simple as they seem.

Murphy's biggest achievement in this novel is incorporating every side of an argument. We are not just shown one political side of the fallout to the War on Terrorism, but he shows several. It is like this is not Murphy's vehicle to show the reader how he feels about things politically, but he is just a correspondent as well. He is just showing the reader all of the different sides, how all of them have flaws, and his job is just to illustrate the situation, not portray one side as completely wrong and one side completely right. He does a good job in telling the story in a way that illustrates there are several nuances to all of the situations, and this means nobody is 100% right. The objectivity is something that makes this a good novel. Honestly I stay away from Iraq stories most of the time, but this is one that I will remember as being influential and well structured.

Tim Murphy is criminally under-read. Based on the merits of this novel and "Christodora", he has hit a home run with two straight novels. The world needs to take notice.

I received this as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Published by Grove Atlantic on May 15, 2019

I hate to use a book review cliché like “riveting,” but it fits. Correspondents tells a story that is intensely personal, while illuminating larger social, cultural, and political conflicts that have come to define America. The novel also brings to life the pain that America brought to Iraq and to its refugees when it bungled an invasion that was conducted under false pretenses, an invasion that was intended solely to advance American interests, not the interests of Iraqis.

Most of the novel covers a span from 2002 to 2009, but the story begins as a generational saga centered on the fictional Massachusetts town of Lawton, described as a melting pot that draws immigrants who work in mills so they can send wages to the families they left behind. The first chapter introduces the ancestors and siblings of Mary Jo Coughlin (a Catholic from Ireland) and George Khoury (a Lebanese Maronite), while the second describes their lives in the 1960s and 1970s. The third chapter, set in the 1980s, introduces their brainy and ambitious daughter Rita and her cousin Bobby, a descendent of the Coughlin branch. In a 2008 prologue, Rita brings her Jewish boyfriend Jonah to a Mahrajan in Lawton.

All of that is background to a larger story that begins in Iraq in 2002, where Nabil is a young man who is desperate to make a good life. His cousin is Asmaa, a bright and restless woman who teaches Nabil English. Both want life to change, but Nabil, unlike Asmaa, is not sure that it will change for the better if America invades the country.

Rita is in Beirut in 2002 as a Harvard-trained foreign correspondent. Bobby has enlisted in the military as a response to 9/11. As the invasion of Iraq seems imminent, Rita gets her career-making wish and is sent to Iraq to cover the war. Nabil is her warzone interpreter. Bobby is later sent to Iraq to assist with the occupation.

Most of the story takes place in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Rita’s interviews reveal the mess that America made. The plan to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis was sabotaged by the indiscriminate bombing of neighborhoods, the mass incarceration of innocent people, and the failure to implement a post-invasion strategy to control the chaos of looters, car thieves, and random killings. All of that is depicted in vivid detail. The notion that deposing Saddam made Iraq free is debunked by characters who tell Rita that they are no longer free to walk on the streets without fear of being killed.

Americans learned some of that from journalists who were allowed to report the story, but as the novel suggests, many American journalists pulled their punches in the immediate aftermath of the supposed “victory.” Only later did they report the hypocrisy of imposing American-style democracy by force on people who were not allowed to decide for themselves whether they wanted a democracy. Almost two decades later, Iraq is still unstable, thanks to American interference with the country's governance. Rita’s realization that American foreign policy is toxic is one of the novel’s strongest moments.

The story is filled with dramatic moments, some involving Rita, others advancing Nabil’s story. One of the later chapters, set in the United States shortly before the 2008 election, focuses on a birther with mental health issues and a newly purchased gun, whose actions lead to a tragic moment that has an impact on Rita, Bobby, and the nation. The last few chapters touch upon important issues involving gun control (or its absence), PTSD, the darkness the pervades the lives of war survivors, the difficulty that refugees have while transitioning to American life, and the love of country (which many Americans can’t seem to fathom when the country isn’t their own).

Correspondents is smart, nuanced, and powerful. A key moment occurs when Rita inadvertently reveals the truth as she sees it — not a “balanced” story about post-invasion successes and failures, but an unvarnished, personal account of how devastating the invasion had been to people who, in its aftermath, lived in daily fear of kidnappers, looters, car bombers, and retribution. Correspondents dramatizes how journalism lost its way by refusing to report the truth from Iraq for fear of appearing biased, as if enabling propaganda by uncritical reporting of an administration’s statements is not itself a form of biased reporting. It tells that story — and the story of the war’s impact on Nabil and his family — in scenes that are all the more moving because of their realism.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Correspondents requires patience, but I found it well worth the read. The story spans a couple of generations, ultimately focusing on Rita and Nabil. Rita is the daughter of a Lebanese father and an Irish mother, growing up in the US and becoming a war correspondent. Nabil is an Iraqi translator, who works with Rita when she is stationed in Iraq. The story builds slowly, spanning the US, Lebanon and Iraq. At times, it felt a bit too slow and a bit aimless, but eventually it comes together powerfully. Correspondents is both personal and political, which worked well for me and reminded me of what I liked about Tim Murphy’s previous book, Christadora. Without lacking subtlety, Murphy delves into the complexity of the US’s role in Iraq, while reflecting on the effects of anti immigration on movements in the US. But the politics don’t overwhelm the story. This is still very much the story of Rita and Nabil — strong characters struggling with impossible situations. I didn’t love it as much as Christadora, but I thought it was well worth reading. And I will definitely read Murphy’s next book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

If you decide to take my advice on only one thing for the rest of your life - please make it this:
Please read this book. This book is truly something special.

I've had this book on my Netgalley TBR since December 2018. Little did I know what I had sitting there waiting for me. There is no perfect book, but this book is as good as it gets and impacted me in such a way that I was left in tears.

Rita Khoury has an Irish mother and a Lebanese father. She is raised with both cultures present and for that has a unique perspective on things. She is incredibly bright and when she graduates from Harvard she takes a position as a foreign correspondent for The American Standard in Iraq, right after the US led invasion in 2003. Her interpreter, Nabil al-Jumaili, is a young man who has his own wants and dreams. Coming from a middle class family with a degree from University, he too sees beyond the war torn country of his birth and wants a better life for himself and his family. This is the story of their lives and how their work together deeply impacts not only each other, but the world around them.

I'm being deliberately vague on my summary of the plot because I truly do not want to ruin anything for anyone. The writing is so nuanced in its back and forth between each character as they live their lives before and after the invasion. It truly has something for everyone. Unbelievable family dynamics, a coming of age story, great book club discussions, and my personal favorites - political/current affairs topics with a heavy dose of learning on the history and culture of a very important part of the Middle East.

I haven't seen much marketing on this novel, but please help me in spreading the word. Amazon Books Editors named this a "Best Book of the Month for May 2019". It is absolutely deserving of this and much, much more. I absolutely intend to continue reading work from Tim Murphy as long as he produces it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Grove Atlantic and Tim Murphy for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Review Date: 5/20/19
Publication Date: 5/14/19

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book. I just loved Christadora so much, I could not wait to get my hands on this book. This book covers many topics and to me falls into the category of epic, due to the number of characters, the locations this book takes place and the span of time. The story center around Rita who is half Lebanese/half Irish growing up in Massachusetts. After finishing college at Harvard she goes to work in the Middle East as a journalist o pay her dues. What is ensues is so great and you go on this grand journey with her.

I did personally find when the book left Rita at times to discuss other important characters, I did get a little bored at times, but Rita always brought this one back and was the reason I could not stoop reading this and and pushed though. This is another grand book from Murphy. I would read anything that he writes.

This well written novel takes a little patience- you might find the beginning slow going but you will be rewarded. Rita's colorful family history means something, and it is relevant to what comes after. Once Rita, a journalist lands in Baghdad in 2003 to cover the war, all bets are off. Her interpreter, Nabil, comes from very different circumstances but he is critical for her work and, as it turns out, her life. This actually has twists that will take you by surprise and that will pull at you. It's a big book, quite epic in scope, but it's also a fast read because you will find yourself eager to know what happened next, especially as Rita and Nail leave Iraq. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Fans of Murphy's first novel will enjoy this one and those new to him will find he's a writer of note.

This is a story of ambition and love and of family history. It’s also about war and loss and what it means to be displaced. Rita Khoury is a Bostonian with Irish-Arab parents. She’s long wished for the opportunity to be a news reporter writing about the big events of the day and her wish is finally granted when she is deployed to Bagdad, just ahead of the 2003 war. She’s employed by a prestigious American newspaper and is desperate to make the most of this opportunity. There she meets Nabil, a local interpreter with whom she is to become close. He is a local boy and is using this job to further his own ambitions but also because it pays much better than any other job he could possibly secure in this city.

But before we arrive at this point there’s a good deal of family history to absorb. It takes a while to work through a couple of generation of background and if I’m honest I found all of this slow and pretty hard going. Also, in retrospect, I’m not sure that this section really gave me anything to significantly enrich the story that followed. By half way through the book I’d finally met Rita and decided I didn’t much like her: too pushy, too moody and way too self-possessed for my tastes. Nabil was still a fairly blank canvas, though it was clear that he was withholding a significant truth from his family. But once the second half began and the two were brought together in war torn Bagdad the story certainly came to life. The flow was better and the number of characters boiled down to the few cooped up in a secure building inside the city.

The descriptions of life in Bagdad in the build up to the war and then during the war itself are brilliantly drawn. I felt that I was there with this small group of reporters and their staff. I began to become much more engaged in the lives - and personal safety – of Rita and Nabil, in fact of the whole team. As the tension mounted I kept dreading a violent act that would impact the group directly. Then it came. By this point in the book I was feeling quite emotional and though I still wasn’t sure I actually liked Rita I was certainly pulling for her.

The story was closed down in a clever and impactful way from this point and the structure suddenly made sense – though I do still feel that way too much time was spent on the back story. By the end I’d re-appraised my thoughts on the piece. For me this is a book that required a bit of patience, I needed to work through the leaden first half to reach the sections that made the effort worthwhile. I’d really enjoyed the author’s first book, Christodora, and for me it took some time for this one to live up the the promise of its predecessor, but it got there in the end.

I requested this book because I was a big fan of the author's previous novel, Christodora.

Correspondents was a bit of a slow starter for me, in part because there are lots of characters in the beginning (and, in truth, that part could have been edited substantially without losing anything in the primary plot line). But, once the narrative takes off, this novel is unputdownable!

Such a touching story about Iraq from a semi-outsider point of view. This book holds a lot of (capital T) Truths and is an important read.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for sharing the advance copy of this upcoming novel. My expectations were not that high, because I had not liked the author’s prior novel, Christadora, all that much. But I loved this book instantly. I fell right into the story and read it in a few days. I found the characters realistic and the descriptions vivid throughout. Many parts of the book are sad, but ultimately it has a hopeful message.

An important literary novel a novel drawn from history from current events.I was taken into the world the people a novel that stays with you and you will recommend and give to friends.Excelent for book club discussions.#netgalley #correspondents #groveatlantic.

Thought-provoking, timely, and impeccably paced and layered, this novel paints indelible and unflinching psychological portraits of its characters. It will haunt you long after the last page is finished....