Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Kurdish Bike
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Santa Cruz
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born Carmel, CA; married Rich Vicenti; children (from a previous relationship).
EDUCATION:University of California Santa Cruz, B.A. (honors), 1974; University of Washington, M.A., 1986; La Salle University, Ph.D., 1996.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, educator, and volunteer. Ran own freelance writing business, Seattle, WA; Emery Riddle Aeronautical University, Whidbey Island and Seattle, WA, adjunct professor of English, 2004-09; High school, Kurdistan, Iraq, English instructor, 2010; SP Jain School of Global Management, Singapore, dean and professor of communications, 2010-13; SP Jain School of Global Management — Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, and Sydney Australia, CA and WA, director of international relations (Americas), 2013-17.
AVOCATIONS:Boogie boarding and riding bicycle.
AWARDS:Gold Medal for Best Regional Fiction, Independent Publishers Book Awards at Book Expo USA, 2017, for The Kurdish Bike.
WRITINGS
Contributor to literary, business, women’s, children’s, and general trade publications.
SIDELIGHTS
Alesa Lightbourne has worked in six countries as an English professor and teacher. During that time she has lived on a sailboat and dined with Bedouins. Lightbourne is also is a writer who has written for Fortune 500 companies and coauthored books abut life transformation and achieving goals. She is also the author of the highly praised, self-published novel titled The Kurdish Bike. “My goal for writing fiction,” she says, “is to increase understanding and tolerance for other cultures, and hopefully contribute … to a more peaceful planet,” Lightbourne has said according to a profile of the author for the Winning Writer website.
Lightbourne draws from her experiences working as a teacher in Iraq in 2010 to tell the story of woman who lands a job at a school in Kurdish Iraq. The novel revolves around Theresa Turner, who is facing a life crisis following the dissolution of her marriage. Trying to reinvigorate her life, Theresa sees an online ad to teach English at a school in Kurdish Iraq. Before long, Theresa is off to Iraq, where she soon becomes embroiled in the life of traditional Kurds, most notably the women.
Theresa soon sees that the Kurdish women who survived Saddam Hussein’s genocide still face a brutally restrictive life based on age-old traditions and restrictions, which sometimes lead to brutality and honor killings. Theresa finds herself caught in the middle of trying to respect Kurdish traditions while also attempting to bring about more enlightened perspectives concerning women and their role in Kurdish society. At the same time, Theresa is trying to come to terms with her own life and personal growth.
On her home website, Lightbourne noted that she got the idea for the novel from the woman who inspired one of the characters in her debut novel. Lightbourne also noted that she tried to write about as many real incidents as she could in the novel while protecting the identity of her friends and adhering to her one-time employer’s confidentiality agreement with her. She remarked that many of the incidents in the novel either happened to her or to people she knew while she was in Kurdistan. Lightbourne also pointed out that the book started out as a memoir before she decided to turn it into a novel.
In The Kurdish Bike, Theresa is fifty-seven years old when she arrives in Iraq from her home in the Pacific Northwest. Teaching at the International Academy of Kurdistan, Theresa soon gives the school a name, “the Fortress,” for its tight security to protect the students, who are the children of diplomats. Theresa buys a bicycle, which allows her to travel more around the area, leading her to not only know the world of “the Fortress” but also the everyday world that the Kurds occupy. The novel follows Theresa as she explores her new home, including the local bazaar and the homes of her new friends from the local village, Ara and Ara’s daughter, Bezma. Before long, Bezma and Ara become like family to Theresa. Witnessing the conflicts the two women and the Bezma family as a whole face leads Theresa to realize that Kurdish women need to be educated and more independent if the suffering of women in Kurdistan is to end. The horrors these women face include genital mutilation and forced child marriages.
Theresa had been feeling sorry for herself after her failed marriage and the loss of financial security that came with it. However, she begins to appreciate her life after witnessing the problems of her Kurdish women friends. Theresa vows to make a difference in their lives. “Lightbourne writes in a cinematic prose and easily folds in background about the Kurdish people’s suffering,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Romauld Dzemo, writing for the San Francisco Book Review website, noted: Lightbourne “has the rare gift of weaving national conflict into the lives of individuals,” adding that the novel includes a “biting sense of humor.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, February 5, 2018, review of The Kurdish Bike, p. 41.
ONLINE
Alesa Lightbourne website, https://kurdishbike.com (August 5, 2018).
Manhattan Book Review, https://manhattanbookreview.com/ (August 1, 2016), Rabiya Jawed, review of The Kurdish Bike.
Readers’ Favorite, https://readersfavorite.co/ (July 14, 2018), Betty Taylor, review of The Kurdish Bike.
San Francisco Book Review, https://sanfranciscobookreview.com/ (August 1, 2016), Romauld Dzemo, review of The Kurdish Bike.
Times Publishing Group, Inc. website, http://www.tpgonlinedaily.com/ (February 16, 2018), “Meet The Author: Alesa Lightbourne.”
University of California Santa Cruz University News and Events website, https://news.ucsc.edu/ (February 13, 2018), J.D. Hillary, “The Cowell College Love Bank,” author profile.
Winning Writers, https://winningwriters.com/ (August 5, 2018), “Alesa Lightbourne,” brief author profile.
Meet The Author: Alesa Lightbourne
By See Below on February 16, 2018
Meet The Author: Alesa Lightbourne
at Porter Memorial Library
Wednesday, March 14, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Alesa Lightbourne Times Publishing Group Inc tpgonlinedaily.comAlesa Lightbourne will visit the Porter Memorial Library on Wednesday, March 14 at 10:30 a.m. to speak to us about her book The Kurdish Bike. Alesa is a prize-winning author who has lived and worked in six countries. She grew up in Carmel and earned a degree in anthropology from UCSC and a masters’ degree in creative writing from the University of Washington.
After teaching for a time in Kurdish Iraq in 2010, Alesa wrote The Kurdish Bike; a novel based on her friendships with village women. She showcases the hardships, brutality and even honor killings that these women endure.
The book recently won the Gold Medal for Best Regional Fiction from Independent Publishers Book Awards at Book Expo USA 2017, and has been compared to The Kite Runner by the San Francisco Book Review.
Alesa Lightbourne Times Publishing Group Inc tpgonlinedaily.comAlesa’s many adventures include living on a sailboat in the Caribbean, teaching at a slum school in Jamaica, serving as the dean of an international business college in Singapore, dining with Bedouins in Saudi Arabia, and writing for Fortune 500 companies.
Alesa lives in Santa Cruz, volunteers with literacy programs and loves to boogie board.
The Meet the Author programs are informal coffee hours around the fireplace where local authors discuss their works, answer questions form the audience and autograph copies of their books. The programs are free and open to the public. They are scheduled for the second Wednesday of January, February, March and April at 10:30 a.m.
Refreshments and coffee will be served with The Ugly Mug providing the coffee. The library is located at 3050 Porter Street, Soquel. Limited parking is available behind the library. Enter from Soquel Drive into the Bagelry parking lot and drive through to the left.
•••
For more information, call the library at 475-3326 during library hours: Monday-Friday 12-4 and Saturday 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., or visit the library website at: www.porterml.org
Alesa Lightbourne
Filed under: Authors
Alesa Lightbourne
Alesa Lightbourne has been a professor and teacher in six countries (Jamaica, Virgin Islands, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Singapore and the US), and taught in venues as diverse as universities, preschools and jails.
Alesa earned an MA in creative writing from the University of Washington, and a BA in anthropology from the University of California Santa Cruz. She ran her own corporate writing business for 20 years in Seattle, where her clients included Fortune 50 companies. Her corporate work was honored by the Washington Press Association. Her writing has appeared in dozens of literary, business, women's, children's and general trade publications. A book that she co-authored was named Best Hispanic Business Book of the Year at BookExpo 2004, and her first novel won the Gold Medal for Best Regional Fiction in the Independent Publishers Book Contest.
A lifelong adventurer, Alesa sailed the Caribbean with an infant, spent days alone in the desert with Bedouins, visited 80 countries, and was the dean of a global business school, responsible for campuses on three continents. She lives with her husband in Santa Cruz, California, where she loves to boogie board, volunteer with literacy programs, and (of course) ride a bicycle.
"My goal for writing fiction," she says, "is to increase understanding and tolerance for other cultures, and hopefully contribute (albeit in a very small way) to a more peaceful planet."
Visit The Kurdish Bike on Facebook.
Website: http://www.kurdishbike.com/
Winning Entry: The Kurdish Bike
Contest Won: North Street Book Prize 2017, First Prize
Author
Screen Shot 2018-04-19 at 3.29.58 PM.pngAlesa Lightbourne has been an English professor and teacher in six countries, lived on a sailboat, dined with Bedouins, and written for Fortune 50 companies. Born in Carmel, California, she now lives in Santa Cruz, where she loves to boogie board and (of course) ride a bicycle.
Interview with the Author
Where did you get the idea for The Kurdish Bike?
One day, the person who inspired Pat’s character said, “I’d really like to read a book about what happened to those friends of yours in the village.” I’d been grappling with how to start writing about my experiences in Kurdish Iraq. Her comment gave me a zap of inspiration. Suddenly, I could see how to tell the villagers’ stories from a teacher’s viewpoint. Then I just couldn’t stop writing.
How much of the book is true?
My goal was to include as many true incidents as possible, without endangering any of my friends, or compromising confidentiality agreements with my employer. I wanted the outside world to have a glimpse of Kurdish culture, and hopefully come to love and respect it as much as I do. Many of incidents really happened, if not to me then to people I knew, although not necessarily during my stay in Kurdistan. I had to rearrange timing quite a bit to get everything to fit.
How about the characters? Are they real?
They started out being real, because this began as a memoir, not a novel. But I had too many people for the reader to keep track of, and had to meld many characters together. Then, to my surprise, the characters started acting on their own, saying things and making decisions that their real counterparts had not. Suddenly, I was writing fiction, and the whole project transformed.
Did you face any ethical challenges while writing the book?
The biggest was around the issue of female genital mutilation, FGM. It’s something that women there don’t talk about, yet which is an integral part of their cultural identity. I wanted to raise awareness about FGM, because most of the world doesn’t realize that it is still practiced in Kurdistan. At the same time, I didn’t want to embarrass my Kurdish friends, or make them look backwards to the outside world.
This was especially true given the current political situation. At the time of publication, mid-2016, the Kurds had been getting a lot of good press from the West, given their heroics in fighting ISIS. And it looked possible that there might even be a chance for Kurdish independence, if only in Northern Iraq. Thus, I was hesitant to write anything that might endanger their cause. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wanted to do whatever I could to protect future generations of Kurdish girls from FGM.
At the end of the book, Pat criticizes Theresa for wanting to save the world and assume long-term responsibility for her Kurdish friends. How did this play out in real life?
Well, let’s just say that I have committed a portion of the proceeds of this book to go to my friends in the village. Their situation is dire right now, and they are subsisting on almost nothing. Although I agree that Westerners should not become enablers of Third World people, or create unnecessary dependencies, I also know that my Kurdish “family” would give me absolutely anything, were I to find myself in need. Plus, without them I would never have had the material for a book, nor experienced the genuine love that they extended to me with no expectation of gain.
How did you learn to be a writer?
My undergraduate degree was in anthropology from University of California Santa Cruz, a major that required extensive writing about other cultures. I started publishing stories and articles in 1979, while living overseas and raising young children. Earning a masters in creative writing and literature at the University of Washington (the program is now an MFA) gave me a strong technical background, plus an enviable group of peers for critiques. Then I ran my own corporate writing business for 20 years — the ultimate crucible for increasing self-discipline and reducing ego. When a large company is paying you by the minute, and deadlines are measured in hours, not weeks, you learn to stop whining about so-called writer’s block and produce.
Some readers might argue that there’s an anti-male slant to The Kurdish Bike. Do you agree?
Not at all. The book talks a lot about the cultural oppression of women in Kurdish society — as well as the way that many American women still allow themselves to be controlled by men. These are systemic issues, not individual ones. I tried to portray both positive and negative characters of both genders, and of diverse cultures, so that not all men or women (or Kurds or Westerners) were necessarily either bad or good.
Further to the gender topic, the person who deserves the most credit for making this book possible happens to be male — my ever-supportive, understanding and remarkable husband, Richard.
Alesa Lightbourne
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Writer, Educator, Volunteer
Santa Cruz, California
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The Kurdish Bike and other works
University of California Santa Cruz
University of California Santa Cruz
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500+ connections
Author of "The Kurdish Bike: A Novel".
Dean of business school and college professor (English, writing, communications).
Professional writer with 20+ years experience in wide spectrum of industries including high-tech (Microsoft, Sage Software), healthcare (Medtronic, Amgen, Evergreen Med Center, Virginia Mason), forest products (Weyerhaeuser), nonprofit, engineering (Berger/ABAM, CDi Engineers, Coffman Engineers, GeoEngineers) and many more.
Successful mediator in dozens of marital, family and community conflicts, typically resulting in avoidance of trial.
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Alesa’s Articles
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Alesa Lightbourne on LinkedIn
Publish date January 10, 2018
January 10, 2018
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Experience
The Kurdish Bike and other works
Author
Company NameThe Kurdish Bike and other works
Dates EmployedSep 2015 – Present Employment Duration2 yrs 11 mos
Author of "The Kurdish Bike: A Novel", a full-length fictional account of teaching in Northern Iraq. The book is available on Amazon.com as both a paperback and e-book.
SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney
Director of International Relations (Americas)
Company NameSP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney
Dates EmployedJun 2013 – Sep 2017 Employment Duration4 yrs 4 mos
LocationCalifornia & Washington
Represent S P Jain's BBA, MBA and MGB programs in North and South America; also teach communications courses at the school's Singapore, Dubai and Sydney campuses, and contribute to program development and ongoing support.
S P Jain School of Global Management
Dean / Prof of Communications
Company NameS P Jain School of Global Management
Dates EmployedAug 2010 – May 2013 Employment Duration2 yrs 10 mos
LocationSingapore
* Run Global Bachelors of Business Administration (GBBA), supervising students from 26 nationalities in a twin-city (Singapore/Sydney) program
* Teach communications courses (mainly writing and speech) to undergrads and grad students
* Supervise MBA students in applied research projects
* Represent school at road shows in China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, etc.
* Deliver keynote speeches to external groups about concepts of global business education
High school in Kurdish Iraq
English Instructor
Company NameHigh school in Kurdish Iraq
Dates EmployedJan 2010 – Jun 2010 Employment Duration6 mos
LocationIrbil, Kurdistan, Iraq
Taught classes of 35 Kurdish students aged 10-16 with varying degrees of English sophistication
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Adjunct Professor of English
Company NameEmbry Riddle Aeronautical University
Dates EmployedJan 2004 – Dec 2009 Employment Duration6 yrs
LocationWhidbey Island & Seattle, WA
Developed syllabus and taught ENG 106 (Developmental Writing Skills), ENG 123 (Composition) and ENG 210 (Technical Writing) to classes of up to 20 adult learners
Introduced innovative program for community internships for Technical Writing students
Brandman University - Chapman University System
Adjunct Professor of Communications & English
Company NameBrandman University - Chapman University System
Dates EmployedJan 2003 – Dec 2009 Employment Duration7 yrs
LocationWhidbey Island, WA
Taught both upper- and lower-division communications classes (interpersonal, organizational, corporate) as well as English writing and literature courses
Organizational Communications class was featured in local newspaper for innovative outreach activities
Columbia College
Adjunct Professor of English
Company NameColumbia College
Dates EmployedJan 2004 – Nov 2009 Employment Duration5 yrs 11 mos
LocationWhidbey Island, WA
Developed syllabus and taught ENG 107 (Developmental Writing Skills), ENG 111 (Composition) and ENG 112 (Writing About Literature)
One of few professors with waiting lists for classes due to interactive nature of pedagogy
Represented Whidbey Island campus at main campus for Liberal Arts conference, February 2007
Lightworks Strategic Communications
Consultant
Company NameLightworks Strategic Communications
Dates EmployedJun 1990 – Nov 2009 Employment Duration19 yrs 6 mos
LocationHQ near Seattle, international client base
Principal of small writing and consulting firm
Clients include Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser, Motorola, Sage Software, Medtronic, Amgen, Capital
Typical projects are public relations plans, case studies, newsletters, brochures, business plans, white papers, speeches, e-learning modules, books, articles
Co-developer and writer of various on-site and on-line courses for Lightworks Institute, other educational organizations
Medtronics (formerly Physio-Control)
Communications Manager
Company NameMedtronics (formerly Physio-Control)
Dates EmployedApr 1989 – Jun 1990 Employment Duration1 yr 3 mos
LocationRedmond, WA
Managed and created all corporate written materials, including two monthly and one quarterly newsletter, president's speeches, fact sheets, media kits, brochures, journal articles, advertising
US West Cellular
Publications Manager
Company NameUS West Cellular
Dates EmployedJan 1985 – Apr 1989 Employment Duration4 yrs 4 mos
LocationBellevue, WA
President's speechwriter, preparing about 30 speeches for national and international audiences
Wrote and edited three monthly and one quarterly newsletter
Served as media spokesperson, fielding calls from Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Inc., etc.
Wrote and oversaw distribution for all press releases, direct mail campaigns, employee motivation programs, and customer service scripts, named Employee of the Quarter Spring 1988
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Education
University of California Santa Cruz
University of California Santa Cruz
Degree NameB.A. honors Field Of StudyAnthropology
Dates attended or expected graduation 1970 – 1974
Activities and Societies: Solo field research in Jamaica on impacts on class divisions based on educational system
Bachelors degree (honors) in Anthropology
La Salle University
La Salle University
Degree NamePh.D Field Of StudyCommunications
Dates attended or expected graduation 1994 – 1996
PhD Communications
University of Washington
University of Washington
Degree NameMA Field Of StudyEnglish, Writing
Dates attended or expected graduation 1984 – 1986
Masters degree in English Literature and Creative Writing
Volunteer Experience
Zones of Peace International, Citizens for Better Schools, Eastside Peace Coalition, etc.
Writer, mentor, grantwriter
Company NameZones of Peace International, Citizens for Better Schools, Eastside Peace Coalition, etc.
Dates volunteeredJan 1989 – Present Volunteer duration29 yrs 7 mos
Tireless worker for education and peace initiatives
Skills & Endorsements
Public Speaking
See 74 endorsements for Public Speaking74
Endorsed by Ketaki Verma and 1 other who is highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 18 of Alesa’s colleagues at SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney
Leadership
See 65 endorsements for Leadership65
Endorsed by Nitin Patwa and 2 others who are highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 16 of Alesa’s colleagues at SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney
Editing
See 55 endorsements for Editing55
Endorsed by Ginny Smith, who is highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 17 of Alesa’s colleagues at SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney
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Recommendations
Received (17)
Given (38)
Zach Wilson
Zach Wilson
Deputy Managing Director at VestAsia Group
March 2, 2015, Zach worked with Alesa but at different companies
Alesa has a heart for education and a sensitivity towards student's diverse and ever changing needs. She was extremely effective as a leader in Singapore's SP Jain campus.
Mark Vignjevic
Mark Vignjevic
Photographer, Teacher.
August 12, 2013, Mark was a client of Alesa’s
Alesa is an outstanding teacher and friend. She is great at anything she puts her mind to, and is one of the best teachers and friends a person could have. As a world traveler she thinks out of the box and is capable of communication across great barriers. With unique and experienced outlooks on life and situations. To top it off she is an expert in mitigation and problem solving by identifying the issue and looking for the best and most positive solutions.
Vr,
Mark Vignjevic MAS
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Accomplishments
Alesa has 4 publications4
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Publications
The Kurdish Bike: A Novel Ideas Into Reality: Berger ABAM The SALSA Solution Transformation: Opening Doors to Your Highest Potential
Alesa has 3 languages3
Expand languages section
Languages
Arabic (mostly forgotten by now) Conversational Spanish English
Alesa has 1 certification1
Expand certifications section
Certification
Certified TOEFL instructor
The Cowell College Love Bank
Rich Vicenti and Alesa Lightbourne were interested in each other when they were students at Cowell College in the early 1970s, but Lightbourne was not available... until Vicenti contacted her nearly 40 years later.
February 13, 2018
By J.D. Hillard
SHARE THIS STORY:TwitterFacebookGoogle+LinkedInReddit
Photo: Carolyn Lagattuta.Alesa-Rich-coupon-400.jpg
Rich Vicenti and Alesa Lightbourne with the love raincheck Lightbourne gave him when they were undergraduates. Photo: Carolyn Lagattuta.
As an undergraduate at Cowell College, Alesa Lightbourne gave Rich Vicenti, a Cowell RA, a raincheck drawing on the "Cowell College Love Bank" and promising her love at an undetermined time in the future.
They went separate ways. They both started families and built careers. And 39 years later they were finally both single at the same time.
Lightbourne was teaching at a middle school in Iraq. She reconnected with Vicenti on Facebook. They began Skyping every day. When Vicenti sent her a photo of her raincheck, the message was clear.
Now married, Vicenti and Lightbourne live in Santa Cruz.
"Sharing a history together is like a firm foundation," Lightbourne says. "We can crack jokes about Cowell and the 60s and 70s, and we both get it."
Lightbourne has written an award-winning novel, The Kurdish Bike, inspired by the Kurdish women she came to know while working in Iraq.
Alesa Lightbourne has been an English professor and teacher in six countries, lived on a sailboat, dined with Bedouins, and written for Fortune 50 companies. She lives close to Monterey Bay in California, where she loves to boogie board and ride a bicycle.
The Kurdish Bike
Publishers Weekly. 265.6 (Feb. 5, 2018): p41.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Kurdish Bike
Alesa Lightbourne. Alesa Lightbourne, $11.95
trade paper (323p) ISBN 978-0-692-75810-6
Fresh out of a disastrous marriage, 57-year-old Theresa Turner, the heroine of this moving novel, leaves the Pacific Northwest for a teaching position at The International Academy of Kurdistan in Iraq in 2010. She dubs the imposing school designed for diplomats' children "The Fortress" and is soon exploring the local bazaar ("a wonderland for the senses, this cacophony of colored plastic, traffic honks, donkey brays, dust swirls and smells of chicken fat dripping from spits") and visiting the home of Ara and her daughter Bezma, two women in the local village. As Theresa struggles to implement her employer's rigid curriculum and weathers financial calamity, the purchase of a bicycle lets her occupy two worlds: in one, her colleagues warn her away from "ragheads" and roads littered with land mines, and in the other she becomes something like family to Ara and Bezma, whose lives, ambitions, and fears soon become enmeshed with her own. Lightbourne writes in a cinematic prose and easily folds in background about the Kurdish people's suffering under Saddam Hussein. This story of sisterhood, motherhood, and nationhood should have wide appeal. (BookLtfe)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Kurdish Bike." Publishers Weekly, 5 Feb. 2018, p. 41. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526810369/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6b813e49. Accessed 14 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A526810369
The Kurdish Bike
We rated this book:
$9.95
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.
editor
Chris Hayden been working at City Book Review since 2012, so that makes him the keeper of knowledge. He manages the office and book reviewers (all 200 of them!), which is no small feat. If you’re looking at the book reviews here, you’re seeing them because he sent the books out for review. Without him, this place would fall apart, because no one else in the office knows how to use the postage machine. Two words: job security.
Reviewed By: Romauld Dzemo
Author Alesa Lightbourne
Star Count 5/5
Format eBook
Page Count 358 pages
Publisher CreateSpace
Publish Date 2016-09-01
ISBN 0000083020161
Amazon Buy this Book
Issue August 2016
Category Modern Literature
The Kurdish Bike
We rated this book:
$9.95
Few books have the ability to engage the reader so much that they feel the emotions of the author and characters. The Kurdish Bike by Alesa Lightbourne is one of those books that have strong characters and story, so much so that the reader feels like a member of the family.
The novel begins with Theresa Turner, who’s a single mother and looking for work. After a teaching job in Saudi Arabia, she applies for a teaching job at a school in Kurdistan, in Iraq; to her surprise, she lands the job. Wary of a country ridden by ethnic conflict, Theresa is amazed to see the poor living conditions of people living in Kurdistan. Determined to make the best of her time in Kurdistan, Theresa purchases a bike and sets out to explore the nearby villages. Theresa meets Bezma, a village girl, and her life gives her a peek into the lives of women in third world countries. Each conflict in Bezma’s family makes her realize the importance of being educated and independent in this world, but also highlights the fact that women all over the world suffer from similar problems. Recently separated by her ex-husband and losing her life savings in the process, Theresa feels her problems are inconsequential, as she is appalled by the suffering of women in Kurdistan, who have to endure genital mutilation and child marriages. Being in the company of strong women of the village, Theresa learns the value of her comfortable life back in the United States and vows to make a difference in the lives of Bezma and her students at the Academy. The story is admirable for its characters, for they are not only well-thought out ,but also reflective of a country whose people are torn by a decade-long war. The characters of Ara, Bezma, Pat, Seema, and especially, Theresa herself are well-developed and are a mirror to the courage and strength shown by women in times of distress. Alesa Lightbourne has shown excellent penmanship writing this novel based on her personal experience and shows how involved she was in the lives of the people she taught and met in Iraq. If you are interested in knowing about the lives, cultures, and hardships faced by people in the Middle East states, this book is a must-read.
Reviewed By: Rabiya Jawed
Author Alesa Lightbourne
Star Count 5/5
Format eBook
Page Count 358 pages
Publisher CreateSpace
Publish Date 2016-09-01
ISBN 0000083020162
Amazon Buy this Book
Issue August 2016
Category Modern Literature
BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed by Betty Taylor for Readers' Favorite
Books having to do with the Middle East always interest me, and especially those set in Iraq. This is a region that the author says is “older than the flood.” It is a land that has been ruled at one time or another by the Assyrians, the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Islamic Arabs, Mongols, and Ottomans. I was really enthralled with this part of the book. In The Kurdish Bike by Alesa Lightbourne, the protagonist, Theresa, is an American teacher working in Iraqi Kurdistan. Unlike the other expat teachers assigned to the school, Theresa yearns to get out and see the landscape and meet the people. Her purchase of a bicycle gives her the freedom to explore. On one of her trips out she meets a Kurdish family that becomes her “village family.”
I enjoyed the portions of the book that address some of the differences between the Arab and Kurdish cultures. The story addresses some traditions that have been banned in most of the world, but are still followed in the more rural areas (such as female genital mutilation). I felt like I had met the characters through Ms. Lightbourne’s thorough character development. Most of the story is based on the author’s actual experiences in the region. I can envision Theresa riding along on her bike; Ara and Theresa dancing and laughing; Theresa’s frustration with the love-smitten Bezma. I wanted to remain right there among these people with such open hearts. They know how to appreciate the small things in life.