Age of Silence

Mothers in war zones. If it were a song... Age of Silence is a family saga, anti-war tribute to mothers in war zones based on real events set in Baghdad during the Iraqi-Iranian War and the Gulf War. Living between the hammer and the anvil of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship in Iraq, with a son missing in battle, and a huge fortune tearing her family apart, Bedria fights a battle in her own home that she cannot win. This family saga takes you behind the closed doors of a family living through war to tell how one mother struggles to keep her family together while confined by the silence the regime and culture impose on her. During a tumultuous time in Iraq, money wars, siblings, ego, and a legacy of love and forgiveness Bedria's mother left behind. It is a tribute to the silent warriors in all war zones the mothers. AUTHOR: Alaa Al-Musalli is a professor of communication and media at Capilano University. A graduate of Simon Fraser University's Writers' Studio program in 2019 and the Graduate TWS Workshop in 2023. She trained under the mentorship of JJ Lee (January-November 2019) and Aislinn Hunter (January-July 2023). Musalli has two short story publications: 'Ghost in the Sky' (2019) in emerge 19: The Writer's Studio Anthology of Simon Fraser University and 'The Inconvenient Oath' (2021) in Hastings Journal by Freedom Press, both are war memories. Age of Silence is her debut novel.