The story spans a couple of generations of Lebanese family based in Boston. The central story focuses on Rita, the correspondent, highly educated, being sent to Iraq to cover the war and Nabil, her Iraqi interpreter. Tim Murphy brings characters into Bush’s war in Iraq. He is able to show us the incredible suffering and human loss that innocent Iraqi people had to endure. He himself, being a journalist, brings us inside the minds of journalist, how the media works and how the news were presented the public. This well drawn story bring immense empathy for each character and how war effected their lives in Iraq and America. This is a heartbreaking, thought-provoking, powerful novel of family, war, loss and what it means to be displaced. It is one of the best novels to show how we see everything on a personal level and effects of war. I would highly recommend it.