Helen Benedict is the author of six novels and five books of nonfiction. Her latest novel, Sand Queen, set in the Iraq War, was published in August 2011 by Soho Press. Culled from real life stories of female soldiers and Iraqis, Sand Queen offers a story of love, courage and struggle from the rare perspective of two young women on opposite sides of a war.Recently I asked her what she was reading. Her reply:
I am currently reading The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett. For years now, I’ve read nothing but war books as I worked on my Iraq War novel, Sand Queen, andLearn more about Helen Benedict and her work at her official website.my recent nonfiction about soldiers, The Lonely Soldier. I needed to get away from war, so I picked up Barrett’s novel. I’ve long been a fan of the scientific and historical detail knowledge she manages to weave into fiction, and this book does not disappoint. It is long and satisfying, the way Dickens can be, and also revealing of a certain period in our history (Darwin’s period) when great debates were going on about the shape of the earth and where humans came from. The writing is lyrical and moving, the story fascinating. Wonderful work.
Writers Read: Helen Benedict (July 2009).
My Book, The Movie: Sand Queen.
--Marshal Zeringue
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