Helen Benedict, a Columbia University professor, has written four previous novels, five nonfiction books, and a play. Her novels have received citations for best book of the year from the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago and New York Public Libraries.
Praise for Sand Queen
“This is The Things They Carried for women in Iraq . . . feels
right and true.”
—The Boston Globe
"Every war eventually yields works of art which transcend politics
and history and illuminate our shared humanity. Helen Benedict’s
brilliant new novel has done just that with this century’s American
war in Iraq. Sand Queen is an important book by one our finest
literary artists."
—Robert Olen Butler
"Benedict interviewed around 40 female veterans of the war in Iraq
to tell this completely heartbreaking, vivid story of the
particular difficulties of being not just a soldier, but a female
soldier."
—Bustle
“One of this year’s best new novels about war.”
—NPR, To the Best of Our Knowledge
“[A] thrilling and thoughtful new novel . . . [Kate] is a character
readers won't soon forget.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Funny, shocking, painful, and, at times, deeply disturbing, Sand
Queen takes readers beyond the news and onto the battlefield.”
—Booklist
“This bleak novel explores the horrendous impact of the Iraq war on
women, both soldiers and civilians . . . [an] unforgettable
testament.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An eye-opening glimpse into a life that many Americans have never
seen.”
—Library Journal
“Told in compellingly vivid detail with the clear ring of truth
every step of the way.”
—The Free Lance-Star
“If you missed out on serving in the Iraq War, you can, if you're
willing, be catapulted right into the midst of some of its more
challenging moments courtesy of Ms. Benedict's gutsy prose. Her
interviews with over 40 female veterans show up as action flow and
dialogue in Sand Queen, a novel that will leave you deeply
unsettled if not shaken to the root of your being.”
—The Herald-Dispatch
"Every war eventually yields works of art which transcend politics
and history and illuminate our shared humanity. Helen Benedict’s
brilliant new novel has done just that with this century’s American
war in Iraq. Sand Queen is an important book by one our finest
literary artists."
—Robert Olen Butler
“Helen Benedict’s compelling story provides an intimate picture of
what it means to be a soldier, what it’s like to live on the
battlefield, and what the ethical choices are that our troops have
had to make in Iraq. Benedict tells her story from two
perspectives—that of a young American woman—a soldier—and a young
Iraqi woman—a medical student—both of whose worlds are ravaged by
the war. At times funny, at times grimly painful, Sand Queen offers
a new chapter in contemporary American history.”
—Roxana Robinson, author of Cost and Sweetwater
"Every American who claims to value the lives of our soldiers
should read this powerful, harrowing, and revelatory novel."
—Valerie Martin, author of The Ghost of Mary Celeste
“Ms. Benedict pulls off this audacious gambit because she is an
exceptional writer and storyteller. Her gritty depiction of a
soldier’s life in the Iraq desert is particularly well done. Sand
Queen is powerful precisely because Helen Benedict is so pissed
off.”
—New York Journal of Books
“A convincing and affecting portrait of two resilient young women
caught up in war.”
—Shelf Awareness
“In writing what might be the first major woman’s war story and
alternating points of view between opposing sides, Columbia
professor Helen Benedict has created something enormously fresh and
immediate on this sadly ancient topic.”
—Chronogram.com
Praise for the work of Helen Benedict
"A stunning chronicle of abuses suffered by women enlisted in the
U.S. Army and serving in Iraq."
—Los Angeles Times
“Benedict, an author of both fiction and nonfiction (Sailor’s Wife;
Virgin or Vamp), offers distinctive cross-cultural insights as well
as a cadre of satiric and fascinating characters, and the result is
a story that is both touching and humorous. Highly
recommended.”—Library Journal
“Benedict offers an engaging, lush portrait of envy, desire, and
the insatiable lure of the exotic and unknown.”
—Booklist
“An armchair traveler’s delight, Benedict’s novel is an amusingly
poignant look at the British abroad in the spirit of Evelyn
Waugh.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A comedy of bad manners reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh.”
—New York Daily News
“Benedict has written a novel lush with exoticism yet rooted,
finally, in the common experience of what it is to love.”
—Women’s Review of Books
“[The Edge of Eden] reads as though it could have been written in
the early 20th century, right alongside of the work of Evelyn Waugh
and W. Somerset Maugham . . . [a] dangerous, mesmerizing tale.”
—Cleveland Plain-Dealer
"The Lonely Soldier is an important book, a crucial accounting
of the shameful war on women who gave their bodies, lives and souls
for their country.”
─Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
"A beautifully written novel by a most entertaining and
accomplished writer . . . compelling, intelligent, insightful."
—Oscar Hijuelos, author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
Ask a Question About this Product More... |