The Kurdish Bike

The Kurdish Bike is a gripping story of one woman’s immersion into a not-so-comfortable world, where she struggles to make sense of critical issues, like violence, lack of respect for women, poverty, and the general sense of the absurd characteristic of war-ridden areas. But it is more than that. When Theresa answers the ad to teach at a Kurdish school, she has no idea of the challenges that lie ahead. Now, thrown in an unknown world, she has to reconcile with new cultural values and witness the aftermath of war and its implications on culture and lifestyle. Can her voice be heard? What does it take to replace structures of oppression? What hope does the marginalized have vis-à-vis the cultural divide and the harsh political landscape? Alesa Lightbourne’s debut explores such critical issues and a lot, lot more.

Set against the backdrop of a powerful political landscape The Kurdish Bike offers a stunning social, political, and cultural commentary of what it is like to live in a third world country torn apart by war. The single mom, the newly recruited teacher on a bike, makes friends with native women and her contact and relationship with them lead her to get glimpses of the not-so-obvious conflicts that threaten life in the country. Bezma’s family stands out as a symbol of the oppressed and fans of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and A Dry White Season by Andre Brink will adore Alesa Lightbourne’s evocative writing, the reminiscences of war images, and the general malaise felt by millions of people, plus the pain of belonging to their own country.

As a debut, The Kurdish Bike underscores success at many levels. First, the prose is polished and rings through the ears like music. The author has the rare gift of weaving national conflict into the lives of individuals. And then there is the biting sense of humor, the ability to portray hope through simple relationships, to find meaning in the will to survive each day at a time. The characters are well grounded, sculpted to reflect the social landscapes from which they sprang. In spite of the powerful conflict that permeates every layer of this book, the unspoken words and the silent cries, there is a current of positive energy communicated through laughter, love, and friendship. The novel is beautiful in a haunting sort of way.