Sand Queen [Hardcover]

Helen Benedict (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 2, 2011

Nineteen-year-old Kate Brady joined the army to bring honor to her family and democracy to the Middle East. Instead, she finds herself in a forgotten corner of the Iraq desert in 2003, guarding a makeshift American prison. There, Kate meets Naema Jassim, an Iraqi medical student whose father and little brother have been detained in the camp. 
 
Kate and Naema promise to help each other, but the war soon strains their intentions. Like any soldier, Kate must face the daily threats of combat duty, but as a woman, she is in equal danger from the predatory men in her unit. Naema suffers bombs, starvation, and the loss of her home and family. As the two women struggle to survive and hold on to the people they love, each comes to have a drastic and unforeseeable effect on the other’s life.
 
Culled from real life stories of female soldiers and Iraqis, Sand Queen offers a story of hope, courage and struggle from the rare perspective of women at war.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is 'The Things They Carried' for women in Iraq...feels right and true." -- Boston Globe

Praise for Sand Queen:

“This is The Things They Carried for women in Iraq ... feels right and true.”—Boston Globe

“[A] thrilling and thoughtful new novel . . . [Kate] is a character readers won't soon forget.”—Publishers Weekly

“Funny, shocking, painful, and, at times, deeply disturbing, Sand Queen takes readers beyond the news and onto the battlefield.”—Booklist

“This bleak novel explores the horrendous impact of the Iraq war on women, both soldiers and civilians ... [an] unforgettable testament.”—Kirkus Reviews

“An eye-opening glimpse into a life that many Americans have never seen.”—Library Journal

“Told in compellingly vivid detail with the clear ring of truth every step of the way.”—Free-Lance Star

“If you missed out on serving in the Iraq War, you can, if you're willing, be catapulted right into the midst of some of its more challenging moments courtesy of Ms. Benedict's gutsy prose. Her interviews with over 40 female veterans show up as action flow and dialogue in Sand Queen, a novel that will leave you deeply unsettled if not shaken to the root of your being.”—The Herald-Dispatch

"Every war eventually yields works of art which transcend politics and history and illuminate our shared humanity.  Helen Benedict’s brilliant new novel has done just that with this century’s American war in Iraq.  Sand Queen is an important book by one our finest literary artists."—Robert Olen Butler 

“Helen Benedict’s compelling story provides an intimate picture of what it means to be a soldier, what it’s like to live on the battlefield, and what the ethical choices are that our troops have had to make in Iraq. Benedict tells her story from two perspectives—that of a young American woman—a soldier—and a young Iraqi woman—a medical student—both of whose worlds are ravaged by the war. At times funny, at times grimly painful, Sand Queen offers a new chapter in contemporary American history.”—Roxana Robinson, author of Cost and Sweetwater

"Every American who claims to value the lives of our soldiers should read this powerful, harrowing, and revelatory novel."—Valerie Martin, author of Trespass

“Ms. Benedict pulls off this audacious gambit because she is an exceptional writer and storyteller. Her gritty depiction of a soldier’s life in the Iraq desert is particularly well done. Sand Queen is powerful precisely because Helen Benedict is so pissed off.”—New York Journal of Books

“A convincing and affecting portrait of two resilient young women caught up in war.”—Shelf Awareness

“In writing what might be the first major woman’s war story and alternating points of view between opposing sides, Columbia professor Helen Benedict has created something enormously fresh and immediate on this sadly ancient topic.”—Chronogram.com


Praise for the work of Helen Benedict:

"A stunning chronicle of abuses suffered by women enlisted in the U.S. Army and serving in Iraq."—Los Angeles Times

“Benedict, an author of both fiction and nonfiction (Sailor’s Wife; Virgin or Vamp), offers distinctive cross-cultural insights as well as a cadre of satiric and fascinating characters, and the result is a story that is both touching and humorous. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal
 
“Benedict offers an engaging, lush portrait of envy, desire, and the insatiable lure of the exotic and unknown.”—Booklist
 
“An armchair traveler’s delight, Benedict’s novel is an amusingly poignant look at the British abroad in the spirit of Evelyn Waugh.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“There’s plenty of sin in Eden...."—Kirkus Reviews

“A comedy of bad manners reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh.”—New York Daily News

“Benedict has written a novel lush with exoticism yet rooted, finally, in the common experience of what it is to love.”—Women’s Review of Books

 “[The Edge of Eden] reads as though it could have been written in the early 20th century, right alongside of the work of Evelyn Waugh and W. Somerset Maugham... [a] dangerous, mesmerizing tale.”—Cleveland Plain-Dealer

"The Lonely Soldier is an important book, a crucial accounting of the shameful war on women who gave their bodies, lives and souls for their country.”─Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
 
"A beautifully written novel by a most entertaining and accomplished writer... compelling, intelligent, insightful."—Oscar Hijuelos, author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

About the Author

Helen Benedict, a Columbia University professor, has written four previous novels, five nonfiction books, and a play. Her novels have received citations for best book of the year from the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago and New York Public Libraries.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press; No Edition Stated edition (August 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569479666
• ISBN-13: 978-1569479667
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Helen Benedict (www.helenbenedict.com) is the prize-winning author of eleven books, the last two of which are about the Iraq War. Her latest novel,"Sand Queen," about a female soldier and an Iraqi civilian in the war, came out in paperback in August, 2012 from Soho Press.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Olen Butler said about the book, "Every war eventually yields works of art which transcend politics and history and illuminate our shared humanity. Helen Benedict's brilliant new novel has done just that with this century's American war in Iraq. Sand Queen is an important book by one our finest literary artists."

"Sand Queen" is based on Benedict's research for her most recent nonfiction book, "The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq" (Beacon Press, 2009 and 2010). She won three major awards for that book and her articles on soldiers: The 2010 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the National Women's Political Caucus, The Ken Book Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness for 2010, and the 2008 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.

Benedict's writings on women in the military have inspired an ongoing lawsuit against the Pentagon on behalf of women and men who were sexually assaulted while serving in the military, and also inspired the award-winning documentary, The Invisible War. Benedict has also testified twice to Congress on behalf of women in the military. She is a professor of journalism at Columbia University.

Further early praise for "Sand Queen":

"Helen Benedict's compelling story provides an intimate picture of what it means to be a soldier, what it's like to live on the battlefield, and what the ethical choices are that our troops have had to make in Iraq. At times funny, at times grimly painful, Sand Queen offers a new chapter in contemporary American history." -- Roxana Robinson, author of Cost

"Anyone who claims to value the lives of our soldiers should read this powerful, harrowing, and revelatory novel." -- Valerie Martin, author of The Confessions of Edward Day and Trespass

Benedict's earlier novels are The Edge of Eden, The Opposite of Love, The Sailor's Wife, Bad Angel, and A World Like This. The Los Angeles Times and New York and Chicago Public Libraries have named her novels best books of the year, and she has received fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Freedom Forum.

Her nonfiction includes Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes, Portraits in Print and Recovery: How to Survive Sexual Assault.

Helen Benedict's other articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, Glamour, The Women's Review of Books, and in many other magazines. She has been published in many countries and is included in several anthologies. www.helenbenedict.com.

Photographer Copywright Credit Name: Emma B. O'Connor, 2010.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this important book! August 18, 2011

By John Hearn

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I teach at a small, rural community college in southwestern New York. It's a job that provides me with an opportunity to meet and learn from quite a few veterans of our Middle Eastern wars. I just finished a summer course that included five vets in a class of twenty, two of whom were female. When I ask my female students who have served overseas about gender issues in the military during war, I hear the same story, one detailing a systematic, relentless, pattern of harassment. (And I hear this only when I ask; otherwise, these students are typically silent on the issue.) These young women are often subject to combat situations, without the official recognition or public awareness that they are; they are in many ways not fully accepted into our male dominated military, without adequate official recognition or public understanding that this is so; they are routinely burdened by degrading gender-based stereotypes and are too frequently threatened or actually assaulted, without any just recourse; upon return to civilian life, they are seldom treated to the token "thank you for your service" greeting from fellow citizens (one given countless times to our male veterans) who are unable to perceive them as warriors; when they break down, they are less likely to be understood and, when they are treated, are subject to relatively unhelpful care modalities that were developed for males.
For several years now I've wondered how and if any of this will change. I've assumed that for it to, the men who control our military institution will have to want that change, and that our public will have to encourage them to want it. My optimism that this transformation is possible has been bolstered by Helen Benedict's Sand Queen.... My hope is that it becomes required reading for those responsible for structuring our military organizations, and that it is read as well by all who believe our courageous young women in the military deserve to be treated fairly.
Sand Queen is, though, much more than a vehicle for potential change in the military. Its fundamental humanness and the political questions raised by that perspective encourage the reader to also consider the ends to which our huge and powerful military is used. In addition, it is a creatively told story about sympathetic, well-drawn characters whose lives parallel and intersect in ways that hold the reader's interest until the book's end.
Now, when the war's toll is finally beginning to be felt by more of us, when clarity is beginning to replace frenzy, we may be ready to assess and address the issues raised by this important novel. I hope you read it. I hope you encourage others to do so as well. Read more ›

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you care about women... September 15, 2011

By Patricia Lee Stotter

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you care about women, if you care about the experiences of women in the military, if you care about what it is to live in a warzone, Sand Queen is a must read. You will smell and feel and see Iraq through the lens of two women from different sides of the conflict there.

I cannot say enough good things about this book, but I can tell you that I have been working on a multi-platform project about disabled female veterans for two years, I have been working with veterans for 7 years, and I was ambushed by the emotional intensity and intellectual depth of Sand Queen.

This book will push your deepest buttons. Land mines come to mind.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No end in sight May 29, 2011

By deeper waters

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Based on hours of research and interviews with the people who personally experienced combat in Iraq, Helen Benedict has written an intelligent and thought provoking commentary on the reality of war. Told by two young women, Army Specialist Kate Brady who guards detainees and Naema, a young Iraqi woman seeking information about her imprisoned father and little brother, the short and long term costs of war become clear. Both of them are idealistic, decent, hopeful, stubborn and intent on doing something positive with their lives but quickly are overwhelmed by the weight of military occupation . There are no winners in the story, just as there are no real winners in war.....only the corpses of the dead and the living dead for whom life will never be the same. There is no justification for terrorism , human debasement, violence or vengeance regardless of who is dishing it out and no amount of spin will change this truth. We are quick to be critical of the treatment of Iraqi women while giving tacit approval to the abuse of women soldiers. Too often we are ignorant about or choose to ignore the fact that our military intervention and presence destroys rather than wins the minds and hearts of the people on both sides of the conflict. Benedict invites us to honestly confront these and other critical issues in this well written novel.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An okay "awareness novel" June 12, 2011

By E. Smiley

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is what I call an "awareness novel," a book intended primarily to inform readers about some tragic contemporary situation. At its best, the awareness novel can inspire real-world change: see Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (although ironically, the change that book inspired wasn't what Sinclair had in mind). But there's a reason few people read The Jungle anymore, although schoolkids are routinely assigned the passage about meat-packing factories: it's not a great piece of literature. You can't help but feel bad for the characters, since the characters were created specifically to elicit sympathy, but it's an unremittingly tragic and didactic book without any great characterization or literary value to redeem it.

Sand Queen has the same problem. You can't help but be outraged at the constant sexual harassment and fear of sexual assault that the female soldiers face and the cruel way the army responds to such problems. You can't help but be saddened by the plight of the Iraqi civilians. You can't help but be horrified at the soldiers' going into harm's way with outdated, insufficient protective gear, and disheartened by the alienation and PTSD they suffer even after returning home. So yes, the book successfully inspires the emotions it was intended to inspire. That said, I didn't learn as much as I was expecting to; any reasonably informed person already knows something about the destructive effects of PTSD, for instance, and that life is grim for civilians in Iraq, and in those areas I didn't learn anything beyond what one can get just by paying attention to the news. Nor did the book make me care the way a truly great book can: I finished com/A-Thousand-Splendid-Suns/dp/B0084I2PEO">A Thousand Splendid Suns caring deeply about Afghanistan (crazy as that may sound), but I didn't have the same reaction here.

This book mostly follows Kate, a young female soldier deployed to Iraq in 2003, who faces everything from IEDs to sexual harassment to her own increasingly violent impulses. Naema, an Iraqi woman, narrates a smaller portion of the book and her storyline intersects with Kate's. Kate is a much better character than Naema; we never learn much about Naema except that her life experiences have caused her to hate Americans, and the most interesting aspect of her character, the fact that she's a medical student, gets little attention. Kate is much better-developed and struggles with her interpersonal relationships, her religious beliefs, the conflict between her self-image as a soldier and the terrible situations she finds herself in, and so on.

But I was disappointed, in a book set in Iraq, to learn very little about Iraqi culture. Especially since I'd previously read Benedict's Sailor's Wife, where she does a much better job exploring recent Greek history and peasant culture in the Mediterranean.

At only about 300 pages, Sand Queen is a quick read. Once I put it down, I didn't have much desire to pick it back up, but when I sat down to read it, it was a page-turner. It's clear throughout where the story is going (especially given Kate's flash-forward chapters scattered throughout), but there are still twists along the way. The writing style is all right but not exceptional. However, Benedict's writing is about as subtle as a load of bricks; for instance, Naema routinely thinks things like:

"Are these the people the Americans have come to help? If so, how does it help to drop bombs on their houses and imprison their sons and fathers? To destroy their villages, already so poor, and slaughter their babies? To murder them and not even know their names? Is this the way to liberate a people from a dictator? Or has the world gone mad for the taste of oil and blood?"

But back to the treatment of women in the military, since that seems to be Benedict's biggest concern. An author dealing with this topic walks a fine line: talk too much about women being raped, harassed and assaulted and you risk convincing some in your audience that women just shouldn't be in the military at all. Benedict veers a little too far that way for my personal (civilian, but supporter of women in the military) comfort level: two of the three female soldiers featured here are sexually assaulted and suffer severe PTSD. Kate, we learn early on, ultimately breaks down, and while I think she'd have been much better at handling the horrors of war had she not suffered constant sexual harassment and worse from both the Iraqis and her own colleagues (essentially she's fighting a non-stop war on two fronts), a less sympathetic reader might view her as simply being unable to deal with mortar attacks, losing friends, and primitive living conditions--which soldiers of both genders have to deal with, but which seem to affect the men in this book much less. And that's without mentioning Kate's being distracted by a romance with a male colleague. Another woman in the book is a paragon of everything a soldier should be, but Kate's troubles get the primary focus.

For me, Sand Queen did work as an awareness novel, although not as a book I'm likely to re-read or recommend. A generous three stars. Read more ›