Chia A. Abdulkarim

The setting is the cradle of civilization where political and identity crisis is noted in Gharbi Mustafa’s novel. Nazo, the main character is first introduced to the readers in an unstable security situation where her very existence is disregarded by extremist groups. She is viewed as a slave by the armed groups. On the other hand, Nazo’s group is described by the narrator as commodities for sale “They herded the young girls and women like cattle into lorries and drove them southeast toward the city of Mosul” (2017, p. 29). This is a direct allusion to the events of August 3, 2014, when the extremist armed groups seized Shingal and many other villages inhabited by Ezidi people. They were treated as commodities in reality, and women were sold as slaves.