Gold Medal, Best Regional Fiction, Independent Publishers Book Awards 2017
First Prize, North Street Book Contest 2017
Best Cultural Fiction, Readers' Favorites Book Awards (bronze) 2018
"Courageous teachers wanted to rebuild war-torn nation."
With her marriage over and life gone flat, Theresa Turner responds to an online ad, and lands at a school in Kurdish Iraq. Befriended by a widow in a nearby village, Theresa is embroiled in the joys and agonies of traditional Kurds, especially the women who survived Saddam's genocide only to be crippled by age-old restrictions, brutality and honor killings. Theresa's greatest challenge will be balancing respect for cultural values while trying to introduce more enlightened attitudes toward women - at the same time seeking new spiritual dimensions within herself.
Based on true events, The Kurdish Bike is gripping, tender, wry and compassionate - an eye-opener into little-known customs in one of the world's most explosive regions - a novel of love, betrayal and redemption. San Francisco Book Review gave the book five stars and compared it to The Kite Runner. The Manhattan Book Review also gave it five stars, and called it a "must-read" for anyone interested in the Middle East.
Highly recommended for book clubs. Contact author to request a Skype presentation to your book club.