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Ahmad Ardalan
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The Gardener of Baghdad Kindle Edition

by Ahmad Ardalan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 1,620
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Two people, one city, different times; connected by a memoir. Can love exist in a city destined for decades of misery?

Adnan leads a weary existence as a bookshop owner in modern-day, war-torn Baghdad, where bombings, corruption and assault are everyday occurrences and the struggle to survive has suffocated the joy out of life for most. But when he begins to clean out his bookshop of forty years to leave his city in search of somewhere safer, he comes across the story of Ali, the Gardener of Baghdad, Adnan rediscovers through a memoir handwritten by the gardener decades ago that beauty, love and hope can still exist, even in the darkest corners of the world.
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  1. Print length
    228 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    29 July 2014
  5. File size
    1916 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product description

Review

"A Magical Escape From Reality With Beautiful Love Story!" Glenda "I can almost smell the roses" Jen "A Gardener of Hearts and Hope" Gail Butler

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00M91LJGW
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1916 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1515118878
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 1,620

About the author

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Ahmad Ardalan

Ahmad Ardalan

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Ahmad Ardalan is an ongoing cancer fighter. He was born in Baghdad in 1979. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to Vienna, Austria, where he spent most of his childhood and underwent his primary studies. After his father's diplomatic mission finished at the end of 1989, he returned to Iraq, where he continued his studies and graduated from the University of Dentistry. As a result of the unstable political, military, social, and economic conditions in his home country, Ahmad decided to leave Iraq and move to the UAE. After facing difficulties to pursue his career in dentistry, he opted to pursue employment in the business world. Since then, Ardalan has held several senior roles within the pharmaceutical and FMCG industries, throughout much of the Middle East. His early childhood in a mixed cultural environment, as well as his world travels, increased his passion for learning about cultures of the world and inspired him to pen The Clout of Gen, his first novel. After eleven years of being away, Ahmad returned to Baghdad in January 2013 on a visit that was full of mixed emotions. Inspired by his trip to Iraq, he wrote his second novel, The Gardener of Baghdad. He did not stop there, as "Matt" his latest Short Story Thriller Series became available 2015. The Gardener of Baghdad, opened readers’ eyes to a different picture of the city they had heard of. With hope & love as his message, Ardalan released Baghdad: The Final Gathering, and followed it by The Boy of the Mosque. A recent trip to Paris, strolling around the beautiful galleries of Le Marais inspired him to write his latest novel The Art Collector of Le Marais.

Goodreads Page: goodreads.com/author/show/6438470.Ahmad_Ardalan

Author's Website: ahmadardalan.net/

Instagram: instagram.com/ahmad_ardalan/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ahmad-ardalan

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
1,620 global ratings

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Top reviews from Australia

Lulu
5.0 out of 5 stars The highs & the lows in this Gardner’s life kept me fascinated.
Reviewed in Australia on 18 December 2019
Verified Purchase
Loved this book. I enjoyed everything about it, I could picture the gardens, & related to the relationships the gardner had with the different people who entered his life. It was interesting to enter into another culture.
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ineke
4.0 out of 5 stars Moving story
Reviewed in Australia on 25 February 2016
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This is a well written story in a lively style. Clever interaction between present and past events in the same location. Quite moving at times. I could not put it down.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon CustomerRay Downie
5.0 out of 5 stars It's brilliant
Reviewed in Australia on 18 May 2021
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Brilliant
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Anne Whight
3.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Tale
Reviewed in Australia on 14 January 2016
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A bookshop owner discovers a hidden journal from the past. The story that it holds is told to us in contrast to the times in which the bookshop owner lives. This world clashed with my preconceived ideas of what Iraq is or was like.

This is a sweet love story, but in many ways this book also reads as a documentary of life in Baghdad in the 1950s, providing a rare insight into peaceful, more liberal times. Even so, there were cultural boundaries and these were overstepped when an Iraqi man and an English woman fell in love.

I really enjoyed the story and wish I could give it more stars but I felt there were a few shortcomings. These could have been improved by professional editing and more character development. However it is a fascinating story, beautifully told.
2 people found this helpful
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Gail Carrie Lander
5.0 out of 5 stars easy read. Good twist at the
Reviewed in Australia on 11 April 2016
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Lovely story, easy read. Good twist at the end
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Stephen King fan
3.0 out of 5 stars A Lovely Story
Reviewed in Australia on 29 January 2016
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The pros... I really couldn't put it down. I was swept away to another world.
The cons... Many literal errors.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in Australia on 21 February 2016
Verified Purchase
Interesting read well written
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Carlzam
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Canada on 15 December 2019
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This is one of those books that you start reading and don't want to stop; from the first page to the the end.
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Julie Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story full of hope
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2017
Verified Purchase
I loved reading about the Baghdad of old as well as the developing romance between Ali the gardener and Mary, the daughter of the British Governor. The story is told through the eyes of Adnan, a bookseller ready to pack up his bookstore after the latest bombing when he comes across Ali's memoir. This is a book that works on many levels; first and foremost it's a romance but it's also deeper than that embodying cultural differences, nostalgia but above all it's the story of hope. The writer not only expresses hope that true love can ultimately triumph but also that good can come from evil and that we learn from the mistakes of the past. Although saddened by the picture of modern day Baghdad that is painted, I am heartened as well by the hope of the author that one day the warring factions will stop fighting and come together to rebuild the city. It may seem far-fetched at the moment but just like the path of true love, we have to believe in the future.
4 people found this helpful
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Glenda
5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Escape From Reality With Beautiful Love Story!
Reviewed in the United States on 4 August 2015
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This beautiful book actually has a book within the book... In this time when there always seems to be war, somewhere, Ahmad Ardalan takes us into a dramatic fantasy of love and life.

The story begins with Adnan, a bookstore owner...Adnan did not want to leave his shop, even though he had a buyer if he would go...he kept procrastinating, even though his wife and family would be safer... Who knew when other bombs would be used and how much damage would occur. And if he were to sell the shop, his books could not go with him--the newer ones could be replaced, but he had a section of older books that were both valuable but, even more so, his treasures! His father had started the bookstore in 1944 and he'd been working in the shop since he was six. He had grown to love books as well as the bookstore...

He began looking through those rare books, dusting them and picking up a book, French it seemed, he stood confused, especially when a locket fell out... After examining the locket that had fallen, he opened the book and discovered that, inside, was what seemed to be a journal--a personal book that was written by hand. There is no other way to put it: Adnan became obsessed with reading the story...a personal story of a man once called The Gardner of Baghdad!

Adnan read of a young man named Ali who had lived on a farm until he was 18 and left to build his own life in Baghdad, where he began doing gardening and landscaping. His work was so magnificent that he quickly gained customers, had his own business and became a successful man who began to establish himself in the city...

Ali was a very personable man who was well-liked and even became a son to a couple who had lost their son, also named Ali. With their help, he was able to learn even more about advancing his business and things were going very well until the day he saw a beautiful women--an English angel, who was the daughter of a British General...

Both knew of the trouble they could get into... Both knew their hearts were guiding what they chose to do from then on...

This is the type of book that I would love to go on and tell you the whole story but that would give too much away. Needless to say, I was just as obsessed as Adnan once I started to learn about Ali's life and his magically falling in love on first sight with Mary...

Ali had never wanted to be involved with politics. He loved Baghdad, but did not want to be entangled into the issues that the city's leaders were facing at that time... If only he had been able to keep that secret life they had started--meeting for a few hours whenever they could... without anybody knowing...

Adnan stayed at the Bookstore for days and nights until he could finish the book, but it just stopped! Ali had never been able to finish his story...

What do you think a booklover would do at that point?

In the midst of continued turmoil, I applaud Ahmad Ardalan for giving us the pleasure of knowing beautiful Baghdad as he knows and loves it! It certainly provides us a lovely story of how residents of that country are just as frustrated as many world citizens who long for continued violence to...stop!

For romance lovers with a fantasy, unique twist, you might consider this a definite must-read. I am certainly happy to have had the opportunity to learn of The Gardener of Baghdad...Not only is it a beautiful story but it is well-written and easy to sink into and enjoy... It's memorable and bound to come to you again and again as you remember parts of what was most fascinating for you, as reader... Loved it and highly recommend you check it out!

GABixlerReviews
3 people found this helpful
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PEDRO PUECH
4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful love story in the 50's in Iraq, very well told by Ardalan.
Reviewed in Brazil on 16 September 2014
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...and we also learn something about Iraq in the 50's. It tells the story of the love between an Iraq gardener and a British lady, with all the conflicts between the two cultures that shared the same place and time.
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Robin
2.0 out of 5 stars Boring
Reviewed in Germany on 29 January 2016
Verified Purchase
Good if you like sappy romance novels. Nothing of substance here. I'm forcing myself to keep reading because I paid 5 euros for it.
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