The President's Gardens - Hardcover

Muhsin Al-Ramli is an expatriate Iraqi poet, playwright, short-story writer, novelist, and translator of several classics of Spanish literature. He is also the cofounder and editor of Alwah, a magazine of Arabic literature. Born in northern Iraq in 1967, Al-Ramli has lived and taught in Madrid since 1995. Published in Arabic in 2012, The President's Gardens was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), known as the "Arabic Booker," the following year.

Luke Leafgren received his PhD in comparative literature in 2012 from Harvard University, where he teaches Arabic and serves as the Allston Burr Resident Dean of Mather House. He has translated several Arabic novels into English, including Dates on My Fingers, also by Muhsin Al-Ramli.

Named one of the Best Fiction Novels of 2017 by The Guardian

"[An] important work . . . Individual stories offer personal perspectives on the history of Iraq, which has been in a constant state of war or conflict since 1980, and surreal and brutal descriptions of war atrocities are conveyed. Family secrets offer another window onto the past as relatives struggle to find peace despite news of the dead and missing. Al-Ramli's poignant tale is a standard in contemporary Middle Eastern literature."
―Booklist

"Though firmly rooted in its context, The President's Gardens' concerns are universal. It is a profoundly moving investigation of love, death, and injustice, and an affirmation of the importance of dignity, friendship, and meaning amid oppression. The novel is undoubtedly a tragedy, but its light touch and persistent humor make it an enormous pleasure to read."―Robin Yassin Kassab, Guardian

"A story buffeted by the wider ties of history: the bloody churn of dictatorship, invasion, and occupation . . . The President's Gardens evokes the fantastical, small-town feel of One Hundred Years of Solitude . . . Shocks and enchants."―Tom Graham, Financial Times

"This compelling novel's many strands and contradictions fill the reader with a range of intense and complex emotions: anger at the war, sorrow for the people of Iraq, deep humility in the face of such suffering and endurance. Like Gabriel García Márquez, with whom he is often compared, Al-Ramli has created a specific village that manages to be universal and a story that is rooted in history while reaching forward into the present day."―Kathy Watson, The Tablet

"Al-Ramli is an author who can sum up feelings in just a few words. His characters you may only meet for a moment, but they will stay with you forever. He is an important and insightful storyteller and a writer whose work adds a unique dimension to the many stories that make up our literary world."―Arab News

"A beautiful novel . . . In writing about ordinary Iraqis who pay the cost of wars waged by remote, autocratic leaders, Al-Ramli touches on deep and timeless themes . . . Consistently compelling."―Alastair Mabbott, Glasgow Herald

"Deeply painful and satirical, The President's Gardens is a contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting."―Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

"One of the most important contemporary Iraqi novelists and writers."―El Mundo

"A stunning achievement . . . Abdullah's journey gives the book its title: he ends up tending the Iraqi president's sumptuous garden--but of course digging holes in the earth is not as innocuous a task as it might seem under his rule. [Yet] Saddam Hussein's name is never mentioned, which has the effect of allowing The President's Gardens to work as a comment on any totalitarian regime."―Ben East, The National