TAMARA CHALABI
Late for Tea at the Deer Palace
The Lost Dreams of
my Iraqi Family
To my dearest ammooooo, Hassan Chalabi
Contents
Maps
Family tree
Chronology
Prologue
Book One: Fallen Pomegranates
1 Duty Calls: A Busy Day for Abdul Hussein (1913)
2 Stacking Rifles: Hadi and the War (1914–1916)
3 All That is Good Will Happen: A Marriage Prospect (1916)
4 Sugared Almonds and Jasmine: Bibi and Hadi’s Wedding (1916)
5 A Giant Broken: The End of the Ottomans (1917–1918)
Book Two: Replanting Eden
6 Café Chantant: The British in Baghdad (1918) 77
7 Rebellion: Fighting for Freedom (1919–1920) 86
8 A New King for a New Country: From Mesopotamia to Iraq (1920–1921)
9 Fesanjoon, a Royal Luncheon: Faisal Visits Kazimiya (1921)
10 Banished: Out of Kazimiya (1922–1924)
11 Accidents of Nature: The Baghdad Boil (1925–1926)
12 In Between: A Home Between Two Cities (1926–1929)
13 Stolen Hopes: A Young Life Lost (1928–1929)
14 Bursting Energy: Hadi’s Growing Empire (1931–1933)
15 Prison: Uninvited Guests at a Feast (1935–1936)
16 Carefree: Growing Up in the Golden Age (1936–1938)
17 A Dark Cloud: The End of a Generation (1938–1939)
18 A New Home: The Shadow of Death (1937–1939)
Book Three: A Dangerous Garden
19 Mountains and Floods: Domestic Changes (1939–1941)
20 Blood and Salons: Mounting Tensions (1941)
21 An Education Overseas: Mixed Fortunes (1941–1945)
22 Love in Strange Quarters: Of Marriage and Other Unions (1946–1947)
23 The Girl on the Bridge: Anger on the Streets (1947–1949)
24 Precious Things: Towards a New World (1950–1951)
25 Storm Clouds Gathering: Family Feuds and Revolution (1952–1956)
26 Defiance: A Crisis and a Key (1956)
27 Revolution: Slaughter of a Family (1958)
Book Four: Fields of Wilderness
28 Lost Lands: Seeking Shelter (1958)
29 Migration: Precious Cargo (1958)
30 Hunger Pangs: Yearning for Home (1958)
31 Arrivals and Departures: The Importance of Contacts (1958–1959)
32 Escape to Nowhere: The Threat of the Clown Court (1959)
33 A Temporary Home: Visits to the Park (1959)
34 Return to the Shrine: A Life by the Sea (1959–1963)
35 Of Carpets and New Blood: The Emergence of New Patterns (1967)
36 The Ruins of Kufa: A Coup and a Birth (1968–1972)
37 Civil War: A Shattered Sanctuary (1975–1982)
38 Creased Maps: A Move to a Different Land (1980s)
39 Lessons in Humility: The Loss of Everything Precious (1980s)
40 The Mortality of Gods: Burials of the Banished (1988)
41 The Lost Talisman: When Everything is Taken (1989–1992)
42 A Question of Identity: In Search of a Way to Be (1990–2009)
Epilogue
Glossary of Iraqi Terms
Acknowledgments
Searchable Terms
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Maps
CHALABI FAMILY TREE
Chronology
| 1833 | Ali Chalabi is born. |
| 1869–72 | Midhat Pasha, Ottoman governor in Baghdad, launches a series of much needed reforms aimed at modernization. |
| 1879 | Abdul Hussein is born. |
| 1898 | Hadi is born. |
| 1900 | Bibi is born. |
| 1908 | The Young Turks or CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) Revolt occurs. |
| 1909 | Persian Constitutional Revolution takes place in Iran. |
| 1911 | Bibi’s father, Sayyid Hassan al-Bassam, dies. |
| 1912 | The Turkish Petroleum Company is formed for oil exploration. Its main partners are British and Dutch. |