Praise for Floodlines
“In this sprawling family saga, three Iraqi British sisters strain against one another while contending with political turmoil... Haddad writes in a prose that is erudite and engaging. His intimate knowledge of the region's politics enriches this layered drama of sisterhood.”—The New Yorker
“A hugely ambitious novel which asks challenging questions on every page...Beyond the skill of its prose, Floodlines is humane and moving.”—Asian Review of Books
“The scope of the novel is wide, but [Saleem Haddad] manages to craft such a captivating and engaging story, transporting the reader with such visceral scenes. A compelling, compassionate and authentic work of fiction, offering a bright light of hope despite the turbulence and trauma of the past, this is a must-read for 2026.”—Buzz Magazine
“Floodlines manages to grip and engage even as it explodes moral and intellectual complacencies. In asking what it means to make art, it manages to be cinematic and essayistic in the same breath. Above all, it manages to fuse the intimate subjectivities of disinheritance and displacement with unfolding history. An epic vindication.”—Youssef Rakha, author of Dissenters
“An illuminating look at the value of the arts in public life and the preservation of culture—and families.”—Kirkus Reviews
“An elegant articulation of [the] melancholy that plagues the Arabs... It bears mention that in Floodlines, it is art that ultimately binds the family, for better or for worse. Art is also what binds us to ourselves, especially in these times of profound Arab grief.”—The Markaz Review
“Haddad weaves disparate threads of time, war, art and conflict into a compelling narrative.”—Lavender
“An exquisite examination of the place art holds in personal lives and political fractures.... Haddad is a masterful builder of character, with a nuanced ear for dialogue and subtle turns of fortune.”—Sarah Rauch, author of What Shines from It: Stories
Praise for Saleem Haddad’s debut novel, Guapa
“This immensely readable novel is fluent, passionate and emotionally honest. Equally astute in its analysis of Arab and American mores, the book’s characters are nuanced and dynamic; it gives fresh life to the maxim ‘the personal is political.’”—The Guardian
“A vibrant, wrenching début novel… sensuous and caustic, full of smoke and blood.”—The New Yorker
“Guapa challenges the notion of what a ‘conventional’ love story should look like, and as one of few queer novels with an Arab protagonist, it must not be overlooked.”—Lambda Literary
“At its best, Guapa deftly captures the surrealism both of living a double life and navigating the hall of mirrors within which a quasi-totalitarian regime encloses society.”—Star Tribune
“Guapa is a brilliant novel. It has so many components to it: a political revolution, a religious battle, the questioning of the narrator’s Arabness, and homophobia.”—Hedgehog Book Reviews
“Saleem Haddad’s debut is a pacey, character-driven novel where revolution, sexuality, friendship, family, history and geo-politics collide.”—openDemocracy
