“It’s an admirable endeavour to have Iraq addressed by someone who is in so many ways able to approach it from two worlds. . . . Tamara Chalabi has the stuff, in every sense, that is needful to undertake this.” —Christopher Hitchens In the tradition of Jung Chang’s Wild Swans and Bhutto Benazir’s Reconciliation comes Tamara Chalabi’s unique memoir of returning to her family’s homeland, Iraq. In this epic story of one daughter’s journey through the annals of her family’s tumultuous history, Chalabi’s powerful voice and piercing vision illuminate her country and its people as never before. The daughter of a vocal critic of Saddam Hussein, Chalabi traces her family history back four generations, through a hundred years of turbulent Iraqi history. Chalabi’s great-grandfather, Abdul Hussein, a Shia Muslim, became the minister of education in an administration largely dominated by Sunnis in the 1920s. His son, Hadi, the author’s grandfather, becomes a successful businessman only to have his life put in jeopardy when he is arrested for treason. Hadi is eventually released, but the family’s close association with the monarchy drives them out of the country in the wake of the 1958 military coup. Hadi’s youngest son, Chalabi’s father, Ahmed, dares to raise a unified opposition to Saddam Hussein in Kurdistan in the 1990s, paving the way for the family’s eventual return home; and interwoven with the story of Chalabi’s family is her own return to Iraq as an adult after the fall of Saddam. A rich, sprawling family saga that reads like a novel, Chalabi’s memoir is essential for anyone seeking a better understanding of Iraq and the turmoil of the last century. --Kristine Huntley “It’s an admirable endeavour to have Iraq addressed by someone who is in so many ways able to approach it from two worlds. . . . Tamara Chalabi has the stuff, in every sense, that is needful to undertake this.” - Christopher Hitchens “A charming memoir. . . . Chalabi’s characters, above all her indomitable grandmother Bibi, are powerfully drawn. . . . It takes a lot of skill to interweave the history of a nation with that of a family and it is a tribute to Chalabi that Late for Tea at the Deer Palace is such an accomplished book. It is a moving memoir of a prominent family surviving the occasionally terrifying challenges of one of the world’s most troubled and turbulent countries.” - Justin Marozzi, Literary Review “In this absorbing book Chalabi has wrapped up much that is important in Iraq’s history in the story of her own family’s development through the twentieth century. . . A meditation on exile, a moving family portrait, thoughtful and well researched, Late for Tea at the Deer Palace gives Iraq, as much as the Chalabi family, its story. - Jason Goodwin, The Spectator “Tamara’s tale is not about WMDs or insurgents. It is the story of a bourgeois Iraqi family set against the opulent backdrop of the Ottoman Empire. . . It is the story of Iraq, but told from an Iraqi woman’s perspective; then it also becomes the story of a young woman’s struggle for identity. . . Late for Tea at the Deer Palace has a whimsical, magical quality.” - Janine di Giovani, The Daily Telegraph (London) “A gripping and well-told saga. . . . An eye-opening account of the family’s long history at the center of Iraq’s royal court.” - The Nation “An absorbing social history of Iraq. . . . A work of exile literature, beautifully written, rich with human detail as only personal family histories can be.” - The New York Times Book Review “One small way to rebuild a country after war may be to hold a picture of its true beauty, which is what Chalabi does.” - The Los Angeles Times “A sweeping, enchanting memoir . . . Late for Tea at the Deer Palace deftly combines elements of history and memoir, but shines most when the author lets the characters’ stories tell the history of Iraq.” - The Associated Press “Fascinating. . . . Chalabi is a natural storyteller. . . . There are absorbing vignettes that describe everyday life in Iraqi high society as it has never before appeared in English. . . . An often beautiful and vivid but tragically belated book.” - Ann Marlowe, The Daily “Chalabi reconstructs her family’s past in novelistic scenes that demonstrate impressive scholarship.” - The New Yorker For Tamara Chalabi, Iraq is more than a country of war and controversy; it is a place of poignant memory. For much of the twentieth century, the Chalabis were among the most influential families in Iraq. In the 1920s they were at the forefront of their country's awakening to modernity, and they played an integral part in the establishment of its monarchy. As courtiers, politicians, businessmen, rebels, merchants, and scholars, the Chalabis enjoyed vast privilege until the end of the 1950s, when they were forced to flee to the land of exile, myth, and imagination, where their beloved homeland took on the quality of a phantom country. In between came rebellions,