An insight into post-invasion Iraq through an unlikely friendship
In 2005 Bee a BBC World Service journalist contacted May an English speaking Iraqi university lecturer to ask if she would give an interview about living conditions in Baghdad in the run up to the elections. This quickly led to an email friendship, but the contrast between the two women’s lives was vast. While Bee was living the quiet life juggling work and children in London, May was living with the daily terror of bombs and violence in Baghdad. Their correspondence touched on everything from hairdressers to the corruption in Iraq. The collection of their emails over a four year period has resulted in a book ‘Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad’. May and Bee join Jenni to discuss their correspondence and how it had a life changing effect on both of them. ‘Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad' by Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit is published by Penguin ISBN 978-0-141-03853-7
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