The Soldier’s House

Benedict (Wolf Season) unspools a harrowing story of an Iraqi refugee family’s attempts to fit into American society. During the Iraq War, Khalil served as an interpreter for the U.S. military, until he was killed in a car bombing, presumably by insurgents. His wife, Naema, who narrates, was left scarred, and their three-year-old son, Tariq, lost his leg. Staff Sgt. Jimmy Donnell, who worked with Khalil, arranges for the pair and Khalil’s mother, Hibah, to escape, and eventually puts them up in his home near Albany, N.Y., with his wife, Kate. Immediately, things start going awry for the family, as Naema is unable to find a job even though she was a pediatrician in Iraq, and Kate leaves the country for reasons that are explained later. Meanwhile, Jimmy suffers from PTSD triggered by his memories of combat, and pines for Kate, which alarms Naema, who feels she can’t quite trust him and wants to find an apartment for her family despite having little money. Benedict effectively chronicles the struggles of a family displaced by war and a refugee’s desire to provide for her family (“It does not seem so very much to ask from the country that destroyed my own,” Naema reflects). This chilling tale will stay with readers. (Apr.)