Alia Mamduh is an Iraqi novelist, author and journalist. During the 1970s and 1980s she worked for a variety of newspapers and magazines in the Middle East. When her first novel was released in Iraq she banned from publishing her work, due to her observations on sexuality, politics and power. Forced into exile in Paris, she continues to write.

"Naphtalene" is a story of a girl, named Huda, growing up in Baghdad during the 1940s and 1950s. Through the eyes of Huda we are introduced to the political, societal and sexual expectations of a young woman, and her defiance towards them.

Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad