“I need you to call Ishtar.”
In the summer of 2014, three estranged Iraqi-British sisters are drawn back into each other’s orbits through the discovery of their late father’s lost paintings.
As Mediha, Zainab, and Ishtar lay claim to his legacy—an inheritance laced with exile, betrayal, and an Iraq they no longer recognise—Zainab’s son Nizar, a war correspondent haunted by his time on the front lines, returns to the family fold. As summer bleeds into autumn and the truth about the paintings unfurls, the family is forced to confront the personal and political betrayals that tore them apart.
Spanning continents and decades, Floodlines grapples with grief and memory, and charts the emotional and political aftershocks of a century of war and revolution in Iraq and beyond. Inspired by the artistic legacy of Haddad’s great uncle, the Iraqi modernist painter Jewad Selim, Floodlines explores family, queerness, and the wounds of (neo)colonialism in haunting, visceral prose.
Praise:
“A sweeping, emotionally devastating contemporary epic that feels both intimate and urgent.” The Bookseller
“In asking what it means to make art, Floodlines manages to be cinematic and essayistic in the same breath. Above all, it manages to fuse the intimate subjectivities of disinheritance and displacement with unfolding history. An epic vindication.” Youssef Rakha, author of The Dissenters
“A searing meditation on hope, Floodlines is beautifully crafted and breathtaking in scope and reach. It is a book that mourns Iraq and all the senseless violence its people and lands have been subjected to, while celebrating its art, richness, and commitment to life.” Tareq Baconi, author of Fire In Every Direction
“Haddad writes movingly about what we inherit, and places art at the heart of his exploration into how the tragedy of a country and the tragedy of a family live on the same canvas.” Michael Langan, author of Shadow Is A Colour As Light Is
“Haddad writes with the precision of a historian and the heart of a poet. Floodlines is a haunting, incandescent novel, a story of art and aftermath, of queerness and quiet revolution, and an excavation of family, memory, and the political ruptures that echo across generations. With fierce tenderness and astonishing power, Haddad confirms himself as one of our most vital storytellers. A stunning, necessary book.” Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal
“Tracing the shifting territories of meaning forged through the art and narratives of witness, Floodlines is a sophisticated exploration of inheritance, identity, and the politics of intimacy, navigating the delicate negotiations between revelation and concealment. Haddad’s depiction of the search for home, both spiritual and physical, one shaped by love, rage, and longing, is a compelling and resonant novel for our moment.” Peter Scalpello, author of Limbic