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The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman's Fight to Save Two Orphans
by
Hala Jaber
The inspiring true story of a prizewinning foreign correspondent longing for a child, two small Iraqi girls in need of a mother, and what love and grief can teach us about family and hope.
Zahra, age three, and Hawra, only a few months old, were the only survivors of a missile strike in Baghdad in 2003 that killed their parents and five siblings. Across the world, in Londo...more
Zahra, age three, and Hawra, only a few months old, were the only survivors of a missile strike in Baghdad in 2003 that killed their parents and five siblings. Across the world, in Londo...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
May 28th 2009
by Riverhead Hardcover
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The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles is such an enchanting and captivating story. The writing was so vivid that I felt as though I was Hala and experiencing what she was. I could see the devastation the bombs had created, could see the injured and burned children and heard their cries of pain as though I was standing next to them. War is never a good solution and its ramifications are not limited to the area being targeted but instead have far reaching repercussions.
The children in this story hav...more
The children in this story hav...more
Someone on Facebook mentioned this book she could not put down, and I immediately went and got the Kindle edition and also found this story engrossing. Jaber is a Lebanese-British correspondent reporting for London's Sunday Times. The book tells the very personal story about the attempt to save a two children, orphaned when their car was bombed in an American attack on Baghdad. Three-year-old Zahra was burned over most of her body and in dire need of sophisticated emergency attention, while her...more
I saw this book in the biography section on my way out of another trip to the library. I grabbed it on a whim, recognizing the Arabic name of the author, and feeling in the mood to read about the Middle East. I expected it to be a fun read, but not something that would change my life or the way I see the world. On the contrary, this book, which I read in 24 hours, opened my eyes again. Jaber is a talented writer to say the least, it is easy to see how she won all the awards she did. Through that...more
I learned about this book through a CBC radio interview with the author, and was eager to read it. I wasn't disappointed.
Jaber is a (British) Lebanese journalist, married to an Englishman, who works for The Sunday Times as a foreign correspondent. Together with her husband, she went to Bagdad to cover the war in Iraq. The book is about her experiences there, with the focus on two sisters, Zahra, three years, and Hawra, a baby, at the time when a missile killed their parents and five siblings. Za...more
Jaber is a (British) Lebanese journalist, married to an Englishman, who works for The Sunday Times as a foreign correspondent. Together with her husband, she went to Bagdad to cover the war in Iraq. The book is about her experiences there, with the focus on two sisters, Zahra, three years, and Hawra, a baby, at the time when a missile killed their parents and five siblings. Za...more
This is a story of the 2003 Iraq invasion and its aftermath, with a focus on the shatteringly human face of "collateral damage." As a Lebanese reporter married to a British photographer, Hala Jaber is well positioned to give us a nuanced view of the events in Iraq.
The book weaves together the story of the many Iraqis she interviewed with her own story of infertility. I only gave it four stars because I'm not sure how well the two stories really go together.
Despite having a somewhat happy ending...more
The book weaves together the story of the many Iraqis she interviewed with her own story of infertility. I only gave it four stars because I'm not sure how well the two stories really go together.
Despite having a somewhat happy ending...more
Hala Jaber is a journalist, born of Lebanese parents and married to an Englishman she was working for an English newspaper during the Iraq war. Being Muslim, but living in Britian, Hala could empathise with both sides of the war, but it was her longing to become a mother that spurred on her involvement with two children.
Hala travelled an extremely hard and often very emotional personal journey during this time and it is honestly portrayed in this book. There are passages in the book that left me...more
Hala travelled an extremely hard and often very emotional personal journey during this time and it is honestly portrayed in this book. There are passages in the book that left me...more
I finished this this afternoon, I want to say it was a really good book, but not, as it's so sad!
I think here in England, it's all too easy to forget about the effects on civilians caught in a war that's so far away! We hear about it on the news, and we all get sad when another soldier is killed in the conflict, but it's all too easy to not think about the innocents that are getting caught in the crossfire! Out of sight out of mind, I guess!
Hala's tale brings it all into close focus in such a he...more
I think here in England, it's all too easy to forget about the effects on civilians caught in a war that's so far away! We hear about it on the news, and we all get sad when another soldier is killed in the conflict, but it's all too easy to not think about the innocents that are getting caught in the crossfire! Out of sight out of mind, I guess!
Hala's tale brings it all into close focus in such a he...more
This book wasn't on my "to-read" list, but I saw it on the shelf at the library a few weeks ago and it ended up coming home with me. I have a heart for adoption and absolutely love hearing/reading adoption stories so I thought this would be another uplifting, inspirational, "happily ever after" kind of read. It wasn't. Yes, this is the story of Hala Jaber's attempt to rescue two orphans from war-torn Iraq, but more than that it's an insider's look at the harsh reality of war and the effects of w...more
So here's the thing. This is a good book to read, but it's not a great book. I loved the perspective of a Muslim straddling the line between the West and the East and the story was certainly compelling. It was the first book I read that showed the underbelly of the war in Iraq and what the American forces are actually doing to the civilians on the ground, as well as how the sectarian violence is creating havoc to people, not governments.
However, I expected much more of the prose. For a journali...more
However, I expected much more of the prose. For a journali...more
Written by a Muslim woman of Beirut, a journalist for the Sunday Times of London, married to a blond Brit photographer. Her empathy for the families of war torn Iraq are heartbreaking. I have admiration for her as a journalist, putting herself in danger again and again. But wonder how she could have held a 3 month old baby, considered it to be hers, and then ignored it for 6 years? The explanation of dealing with the guilt and grief of loosing the 3 year old sister after only six months was not...more
A bit suspenseful as you wonder if she will indeed save the two orphans; it keeps you going until the end. I am in awe of journalists who risk their lives to report to the world; so brave, so strong. Sad, sad, sad...in America you hear about the soldiers killed in war and of their families which is devastating, but to hear the other side, of innocent civilians being killed in their homes, families being torn apart, children left orphans...living in America makes it hard to imagine what war on ou...more
The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman's Fight to Save Two Orphans is about a woman and her husban (hala jaber) who are both reporters in Iraq. Hala can not consive a child and she really wants to. When she finds a little girl who is very very badly hurt after a bomding she sets out to help the little girl find her family and recover from the expirenacts. along the way she learns that life can only be lived once and that you have to love it to the fullest.
i reallt thought that The Flying C...more
i reallt thought that The Flying C...more
I enjoyed this book. It's a non-fiction account of Hala Jaber who was a journalist that worked with her husband in Iraq. It tells of her disappiontment in not having children of her own and becoming attached to 2 little girls who lost their immediate family to a suicide bomber. It goes on to tell of her inner conflict of whether it would be good to adopt the girls or let them stay with what family they have left.
Aug 02, 2011
Sandy
added it
This book is terrific on many levels: her insight into the Iraq war, and the collateral damage we don't see in the US; the voice she gives to childless women who grieve monthly for their barrenness; the story of her determination to help 2 orphans who lost their family in the Liberation of Baghdad. It is not a book to be read over time. You'll want to finish it in one sitting.
Probably more interesting to women readers.
Hala Jaber is a Muslim woman who reported on the most recent Iraq war and was drawn into the compelling saga of two orphaned girls.
And in between all the angst and self doubt is the sad tale of the horrific civilian casualties.
Those supporting America's role in the war should read this book.
Hala Jaber is a Muslim woman who reported on the most recent Iraq war and was drawn into the compelling saga of two orphaned girls.
And in between all the angst and self doubt is the sad tale of the horrific civilian casualties.
Those supporting America's role in the war should read this book.
I had been meaning to read this book since I first saw it in Lebanon. The book was well written and the story was very interesting, but it was hard for me not to judge the author. I was also disappointed that the ending was not "happier." I did, however, appreciate the author's insights into life in a war zone.
This book is really inspiring, Hala Jaber having the urge to read her background is truthfully inspiring. It made me cry and made me even angry , it showed me how people who struggle at war would want to see hope and humanity left in others.
Not bad, however, the author focused more on her resentment and emotions, rathar than creating a fair balance between her as a journalist and the war victims. Makes you feel the book was more of a memoir of her experience in Iraq while loosing the chance to capture a better picture of the situation of Iraq back then.
Self centered. I wonder what mothers out there think about it. How this woman could claim to ever have maternal feelings is beyond me. The writing isn't even particularly good.
When the U.S. invaded Iraq, I couldn't stop thinking about the women and children that would be affected. This book confirmed my worst nightmares and was difficult to read. But it was also an interesting and inspiring story about the gray areas within war, and the powers and dangers of promises, journalistic detachment or overpersonalized overinvolvement.
This is a wonderful book. The author's trips into Iraq as a reporter and her efforts to rescue the two children are fascinating, heartbreaking reading.
This is a first person accountn of the Middle East conflict told by a reporter. It gives a different perspective and a human touch to the conflict.
have always been pro war until reading this book, wonderful story about Iraqi orphans & a jounalist so touched by their story.
--informative in some respects but annoying It was mistitled--and not a woman's fight to save two orphans at all.
Jaber gives the reader unusual insights into the Iraqi War and its effects. Very moving and thought-provoking.
I LOVED THIS!!!Reading this tells me that there are more ways than one to be a mother. This is not just a story about a woman trying to save two orphans, it's also about life's perspective and not give up hope to get what we want. Read this, it will be good for you..huhu.
An incredible, compelling read! I can not say more. Powerful. Unforgettable. Hala Jaber paints beautiful heart-breaking portraits of children and families who have lost a great deal, if not everything, during the Iraq war. She takes us into the lives of fearless, selfless journalists, volunteer workers, and doctors, who try at great risk to themselves to help the innocents devistated by war in Iraq. Beautiful. Heart-wrenching.
This was a fantastic book. It was a difficult read because of the contents but worth reading.
The story took to long to evolve and come together, but it was a great read overall
Loved this story of a woman falling in love with orphaned children in a far off land. Jaber couldn't have children of her own and when as a foreign correspondent in Irag during the war she tracks the stories of children who lost their civilian parents from American bombings. This really opened my eyes to the personal tragedies that people suffer as a result of our military actions. I know we have to protect our nation and try to save people of other countries from oppressive regimes, but there i...more
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Hala Jaber is a Lebanese-British journalist. She was born in West Africa and currently writes for The Sunday Times. Jaber was awarded the Amnesty International Journalist of the Year Award in 2003. She won Foreign Correspondent of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2005 and 2006 for her coverage of the Iraq War. She co-won the Martha Gellhorn Prize for her work in Iraq in 2007.
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Jun 13, 2010 02:34pm