Instalive with Ruqaya Izzedien, author of The Watermelon Boys

Thank you to Ruqaya Izzidien for this wonderful discussion of her book The Watermelon Boys which is set in the winter of 1915 when 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.
This book was our Leeds Lit Club read of June so it was a pleasure to finally discuss it with Ruqaya and we are all eagerly awaiting her next book!