I’m in Seattle, Where Are You? By Mortada Gzar.

Mortada Gzar is a novelist born in Basra, Iraq and this is his memoir.

Mortada has an unusual writing style for his memoir. He goes back and forward in time and between his life in Iraq and America. He tells his story to the reader as though he is telling his life story to another person or object. His memoir is centred upon his falling in love with an African American soldier he meets in Baghdad and later moves to Seattle to make a life with him.

I liked Mortada’s story highlighting the cultures within Iraq and Seattle. He makes a big story about his homosexuality and the differences between gay culture in Iraq and America. However his memoir is very easy to relate to regardless of your gender or sexuality. Love of all types happens between people and his book is essentially a love story. The tension slowly but steadily builds as Mortada searches high and low around Seattle to find the love of his life Morise. In the final pages there is a surprise ending that simply tugs at your heart.

I liked how Mortada explained his teenage life around Basra collecting scrap metal from battles staged in the desert, observing an abandoned tank shake and meeting a three legged woman.

I liked reading about Mortada’s university life in Baghdad, where he met Morise and their relationship flowered. I liked the historical perspective of his memoir when Mortada wrote about the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. He explained the cultures and prejudices within Iraq, not just the looking down at the people of Basra by the people of Baghdad but the differences between Shi’i and Sunni Muslims.

I liked his observations of the gay scene in Seattle and the colourful and lively people he met. I also liked his use of nicknames and how he shared a house with the Three Monkeys and was befriended by the Three Monks.

I am pleased that I read a copy of I’m in Seattle. Where Are You? - I was irritated by the backwards and forwards in time. I think Mortada wrote his memoir in this format to hook the reader in early with the love interest but I feel this was unnecessary as there were so many varied and enlightening things that happened to him before he met Morise. With his rambling story telling writing style it was so easy to forget this was a memoir/true story and think I was reading a regular mystery novel. As memoirs go, I’m in Seattle was not an inspirational read but an interesting and personal insight into another world. I found this to be a NICE read but I found nothing special or outstanding. Looking through the highlights I made on my Kindle, I found there was not a memorable quote I could use in my review. When I finished reading this book I felt as though I had met Mortada and got the measure of the man. It was a case of “nice to have met you” and I think that I’m in Seattle is an OKAY 3 star read.

I’m in Seattle, Where Are You? is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2021.