This is a heartbreaking book about trust and betrayal
It is very slow paced and takes a while to get going.
I felt that it needed more depth.
A bit disappointed

This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future!

This is a book which has captured my interest from the beginning. I love how this is written. It is filled with a mix of characters and has been a book I have been unable to predict.

When the Apricots Bloom is Gina Wilkinson's début novel; Gina is an Australian former foreign correspondent, radio journalist, documentary maker and author. The novel is partially based on the author's time in Baghdad as a foreign correspondent whose Iraqi friend, she later realised, was a secret police informant. I found the story atmospheric and suspenseful, exploring the intricacies and intersections of three women, Huda, Rania and Ally, Huda is a secretary at the Australian embassy in Baghdad; Rania is a struggling artist and the daughter of a sheikh who is no longer wealthy, and then there's Ally - the Deputy Ambassador's wife. Friendship, loyalty, and motherhood as well as secrets, mistrust, betrayal, corruption, fear, and intimidation all feature to varying degrees in When the Apricots Bloom. Well told, evocative and fascinating with some good characterisation, I'm pleased to have chosen to read this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Headline via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

This was an interesting read and certainly gave me an insight into life in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein. I was first attracted to this book by the title and I wasn't disappointed. I liked how the story alternated between the three main characters views and relationships and how each one dealt with living in a world where noone felt they could speak openly.

A beautifully written, thought provoking and deeply saddening book written with depth and relevance. Set in Iraq during the reign of Saddam, When the Apricots Bloom paints an image of what was life, without scandalising or stereotyping but with subtlety and elegance. At its heart it's a story about the enduring threads of friendship but interwoven with the desperation of living under such a regime. It's a unique story and an untold setting and I would definitely recommend.

Iraq, 2002.
As night falls in Huda's fragrant garden of apricot trees, a breeze sweeps in from the desert, warning of visitors at her gate.


A secretary at the Australian embassy in Baghdad, Huda has been ordered by the mukhabarat to befriend and spy upon the Deputy Ambassador's wife, Ally Wilson. To refuse is to risk her son being forced to join a deadly militia. But - though Huda cannot yet know it - Ally is keeping dangerous secrets of her own.


Meanwhile, Huda's estranged friend Rania - a sheikh's daughter whose wealth is long gone - is battling to keep her own her own daughter safe from the dictator's men.

As Huda and Rania are brought together again, through their relationship with Ally, their hidden pasts spill into the present. Facing betrayal at every turn, all three women must trust in a fragile, newfound loyalty, even as they discover how much each is willing to sacrifice to protect those they love . . .A great read and I recommend this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is not my usual read but every once in a while I crave for such stories.
This book for me is all about hope.

All women in this book are strong, powerful and rise above all circumstances. Role model characters. Inspirational stories. Can’t praise them enough. In this book, although it’s fiction, I can’t stop thinking that we see the raw reality. Faces and circumstances might be fictional but I can imagine that happening in real life, and I’m sure such situations exist more often that we want to believe.
The way the author present us the psychological side of these stories I think is remarkable. I felt all the emotions. I pictured them in people’s faces.

Love, hate, oppression, fear, hopelessness and dreams despite everything are some of the things you should expect to experience in this book.
It’s a sad story, and even when everything works out at the end, it doesn’t feel like a happy ending. It’s survival with all the collateral damage. But I guess what we need to keep in mind is that this is life is all about.

When the Apricots Bloom is heartbreaking, but at the same time uplifting story about three different female protagonists who try to survive the regime of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. All three of them have their own secrets, fears and regrets, but once their lives intersect and they need to overcome their resentments in order to protect their dearest.

I had this book on my radar for some time and was really excited to get an e-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, huge thanks to them for that. This year I read much more book about Asia in general and Middle East in particular and this book drew my attention as soon as I read the plot.

I enjoyed reading it, but not as much as I wanted to and I do not know why, This book is on the one hand sad and horryfying story about difficulties that Iraqi citizens were facing during that period of Iraqi history, but on the other I could predict some of the twists and the ending. In addition I really needed more in the end, I am so curious about their future lives and after the last page I had a feeling that I was left in the middle of the path with tons of questions and no answers.

Overall, I would give 3.5 stars and 3 stars in total and I will definitely keep an eye on the next release by Gina Wilkinson.

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson is a story of three strong and different women based in Baghdad, during the rule of the dictator Saddam Hussein, at a time when Western sanctions kept Iraq virtually cut off from the rest of the world. It clearly portrays what a dangerous and difficult time it was particularly for women living in constant fear of the atrocities surrounding them and risking their lives to protect themselves and their families.
I did find it an interesting read, however, I was distracted by the plot at times by the heavy use of colour descriptions, ironic as Ally,one of the characters, hated the use of over stuffed adjectives!
Big thanks to Gina Wilkinson, Headline and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.