Читать книгу The Nightingale - Morgana Gallaway - Страница 6

I would never have written this book were it not for my father, James, who was a police advisor in Mosul, Iraq, in 2004. His vast knowledge and expertise have been a tremendous help to me; if there are any errors in accuracy, they are mine and not his. Dad, you were (and are) one of the “good guys.” Huge thanks also to my mother, Molly, for your proofreading skills, constant support, and boundless love and encouragement.

Thank you so much to my agent, Dan Lazar, for taking a chance on an unknown kid; your enthusiasm and ideas shaped this story into something very special.

Many thanks to my editor, Danielle Chiotti, for your dedication, hard work, and the way you made this novel feel like itself.

To the families of Wadi Musa, Jordan, for your lovely welcome and my peek behind the closed doors of the Arab woman’s life. I did not spend as much time with all of you as I’d have liked. One of you in particular inspired me to undertake a full study of the Arab culture, on the chance that I would join it.

To A.D. the translator, whom I never knew personally, and who would have had a bright future.

Journalist Jon Ronson’s The Men Who Stare at Goats gave me the first inkling that the war in Iraq is not what it seems, and provided some interesting plot bunnies. Other sources of inspiration came from several Internet blogs, including but not limited to “Xymphora,” “Smoking Mirrors,” and the Alex Jones Web site. Also helpful were the Web sites of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

For some nice details on weddings, I consulted the blogs of two Iraqi women, both of whom are incredibly interesting to read, and I thank them for sharing their thoughts with the world: “Rosebaghdad” and “Neurotic Iraqi Wife.”

For further atmosphere of Mosul and the American operations there, I found Colby Buzzell’s My War: Killing Time in Iraq to be a wonderful resource; also Mike Tucker’s Among Warriors in Iraq, about the U.S. forces in Mosul and Fallujah. On Arab culture, The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs, by David Pryce-Jones, was invaluable.

Street descriptions in Mosul are courtesy of the ever-helpful Google Earth.