The Nightingale by Morgana Gallaway

All Leila al-Ghani wants is to be a modern woman and a doctor. That's pretty hard, however, when you are living in Mosul, Iraq during the height of the insurgency.

Leila's father, Tamir, was a respected judge during Saddam's reign. The family lived an upper-middle class lifestyle. Leila was encouraged to dress in western jeans and to get an education. Leila has an undergraduate degree in biomedicine from the University of Cairo. Once the Iraq war began, everything changed. Leila's father has become a hard-line Muslim who supports the mujahideen.

Leila puts her life in danger when she secretly becomes a translator/medical assistant at a US field hospital in Mosul. There, she meets and eventually falls in love with a special forces solider, Captain James Cartwright.

Leila finds herself with divided loyalties. Does she obey her once beloved father, whose nickname for Leila is Nightingale or does she help the Americans advance their war efforts by betraying her fellow countrymen and later her own father?

This book is an excellent read. It gives you the war from an Iraqi's perspective -- dealing with violence, curfews, and shortages and American's treatment of Iraqi detainees. However, it also doesn't sugarcoat the fanatical Iraqis' cruelty. Honor killings, beheadings of traitors and tyranny toward women is all addressed. You experience the war through the eyes of Leila.

The Nightingale is also just one heck of an exciting, page-turning read. You'll find yourself rooting for Leila to make her escape from a god-awful situation.