Original and thought provoking

What drew me to this novel was the intriguing title. When I think of Frankenstein I am immediately drawn to the depiction of this "monster" in the writing of Mary Shelley. Was this grotesque creature someone who attracted our sympathy or loathing; the answer is probably both. Frankenstein in Baghdad gives a modern twist to the story taking place in a war ravaged community. Hadi is a scavenger who makes a living by collecting junk and resalable items from the US occupied streets of Bagdad. This rather oddball figure also acquires human body parts and by stitching them together creates his own freak referred to as Whatsitsname, who has also inherited the soul of Hasib Mohamed Jaafar a dead security guard at the Novotel Hotel..."Because I'm made up of body parts of people from diverse backgrounds-ethnicities, tribes, races and social classes.".....The purpose of this creation and the heart of "Frankenstein in Baghdad" is to showcase war as a futile exercise where the greed and ambition of a few adds to the misery, desolation and despair of the masses..."to bring about justice in this world which has been totally ravaged by greed, ambition, megalomania, and insatiable bloodlust."

The novel is told through the eyes of a number of Baghdad residents in particular Elishva an elderly widow, in mourning for her son Daniel, who believes that Whatsitsname is his reincarnation, Mahmoud al-Sawadi a young ambitious journalist and Brigadier Majid head of the Tracking and Pursuit Department. It is a story that brought alive the smells and constant danger of a city and community at war and the inevitable casualties and heartache that an innocent population must inevitably pay. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.