3. Compared to Huda, how does Rania handle pressure from the regime? To what extent does her family’s status protect her, or is that just an illusion? Rania is also an artist—a respected role in Iraqi society. How does this compare to prevailing attitudes toward artists in your own culture?

4. Ally is desperate to find a connection with her mother. Given the restrictions she’s under, do you think her subterfuge is justified, or is her search for clues to her mother’s past irresponsible? What would you have done differently? Were you surprised by her mother’s history?

5. Huda’s husband, Abdul Amir, plays a key role in the book. To what extent does he influence Huda’s decisions? At the end of the novel, how do you feel about his character? How did your perception of him alter over time?

6. The starting point for When the Apricots Bloom was inspired by the author’s own experiences, when she was befriended by a woman working as an informant for Saddam Hussein’s secret police. Did her portrayal of life in Baghdad seem realistic to you? How believable was the relationship between the three women?

7. The novel alternates between Huda’s, Rania’s, and Ally’s points of view. How are their worldviews and attitudes reflected in their narrative styles? Do you prefer one to the other? How would the novel have differed if it had been told from only one perspective?

8. In the Author’s Note, the author references the debate over “our own voices.” To what extent do you agree or disagree with her statements? Do you think it was appropriate for her to write from the point of view of an Iraqi woman?

9. When the Apricots Bloom ends with Huda, Rania, and Ally reuniting in Jordan. What do you think the future holds for them? Did this epilogue strengthen the book, or would it have had more impact if it ended with the previous chapter?