Salam Father (ATOM Study Guide)

At midnight on 12 April 2007, at his home in suburban Perth, 31-year-old Salam Ziusudras receives a phone call from Iraq. He's told that the remains of his father have been found in a mass grave in central Iraq, twenty-six years after he disappeared. Why and how they ended up there, nobody knows.

With just sketchy details from his mother, who pleads him to forget, Salam embarks on the journey of his life, desperate for answers. Travelling from Australia to Sweden and Iraq, Salam discovers a world of underground politics, intelligence organisations, friendships and betrayal; Salam's father is more than Salam ever thought he'd be.

1982: Saddam Hussein was in power. Salam's mother, Mey, was thrown out of her house and her country by Iraqi security forces about a month after her husband disappeared. She was left with nothing but her three children – the eldest being five-year-old Salam. Mey's first country of refuge was Iran, the very country with which Iraq was then at war. About twenty years later their search for a permanent home finally ended when they stepped off a boat in Australia.

Salam's mother can only provide one lead to help him uncover what caused these events: an old friend of his father's who now lives in Sweden. Salam flies to Stockholm and learns that his father was an educated, respected and prominent member of his community. But it's the news that his father held a prominent position in the Iraqi Communist Party that shocks Salam the most. Saddam had outlawed the Communist Party and any member was considered an enemy of the state. Spies and informants were commonplace. Salam's Swedish contact believes Salam's father was betrayed by a workmate who secretly worked for the regime. The only place to learn the truth, however, is Iraq.

The journey to the land of his birth reveals more than Salam ever imagined. He finally begins to understand who he is and where he's come from. Outside, war continues to rage. But Salam must still search for answers – why was his father killed?

Salam has so many questions, so much to discover – but it's the family that he's reunited with that prove to be the biggest revelation. Mey returns with Salam to Iraq and reconnects with a family she has not seen for over a quarter of a century. There's so much healing to do and so much love to catch up on – all in the middle of a war zone. And Salam, while searching for his father, actually finds a family.

Curriculum links

This study guide is mainly aimed at middle and upper secondary school levels, with relevance to:

• English and Literature
• Media Studies
• History
• SOSE/HSIE
• Politics
• Cultural Studies
• Ethics