Floodlines

A sweeping, multi-generational novel that traces the fractured bonds between three Iraqi-British sisters


In the autumn of 2014, as the Islamic State declares the establishment of a Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, three estranged Iraqi-British sisters are drawn back into each other's orbits through the discovery of their late father's lost paintings.


As Mediha, Zainab, and Ishtar each lay claim to his legacy-an inheritance laced with exile, betrayal, and a homeland they no longer recognize-Zainab's son Nizar, a traumatized war correspondent, returns to the family fold.


Spanning continents and decades, Floodlines charts the emotional and political aftershocks of the US-led invasion of Iraq. Inspired by Haddad's family history and the artistic legacy of his great uncle Jewad Selim-a key protagonist of Iraqi Modernism-Floodlines is a contemporary Iraqi epic, and explores exile, queerness, and the disruptive legacies of (neo)colonialism in haunting, visceral prose.