The Cloak From Baghdad: An Interview with Author Carol Isaacs

The Cloak From Baghdad follows Flora, a young woman growing up in 1970s London. Her parents and grandmother fled Iraq forty years ago, but no one will tell her why. She gets her answers when a magical cloak—an abaya—transports Louise back in time to her mother’s childhood. This historical middle-grade employs color and imagery to bring readers into a world that may be unfamiliar to many and the time-travel element introduces the once flourishing community of Iraqi Jews.

Today we welcome Carol Isaacs, author and illustrator of The Cloak From Baghdad! She shares some of the historical factors and personal experiences that shaped the story in this exclusive interview.

What made you decide to do this book?

Ever since I can remember, when people find out that my parents are from Baghdad, their
first reaction is surprise, “Oh, I didn’t know there were any Jewish people in Iran!” And I have to remind them that Baghdad is actually in Iraq, and yes, there were Jewish people in Iran too! In fact, Jews lived all over the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years, predating Christians and Muslims. One of the oldest Jewish communities was in Babylon which later became Iraq. That’s my heritage, a history that’s still not very well known which is why I decided it was time to make this book.

Is The Cloak From Baghdad a true story?

I based it on my own family’s experiences after interviewing them about their lives in Iraq, so all the incidents in the book really did happen. Well, maybe everything except for the bit with the wolf! However, you should know that Iraqi Jews are actually quite superstitious. When I was researching our history, I came across a book written over a hundred years ago about the lives of Jews in Baghdad. In the chapter on myths and superstitions I read that they believed that if you kept a wolf in your cellar, it would protect the children of the house from illness and bad spirits. I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen, but it is true that people had birds and chickens on the roofs of their houses – one family even kept a deer! And, by the way, that wolf’s tooth amulet that features in the book? It’s the real thing. My mother gave it to me, and, like Louise, I sometimes wear it pinned to my clothes. You know, just in case…

How did you know what life in Baghdad was like nearly a hundred years ago?

My family left Iraq with very little; some had jewellery sewn into the hems of dresses and my grandmother even managed to bring her abaya cloak with her. The few photos they brought out weren’t of their houses or the Old Jewish Quarter and I couldn’t find anything much on the internet. While researching my family history I kept a blog and I was astonished to find that I had some followers in Baghdad, young Iraqi-Muslim students who were curious to know who I was and what I was doing. When I told them that I didn’t know what my family’s home in the old Jewish Quarter looked like, they kindly offered to help and went to take some photos for me. It was sad to see those once grand, beautifully designed houses looking so decrepit and broken down. Empty of people, they had been left to rot and crumble away, the mezuzahs long prised from their doorways. Those intricately carved shanasheel (wooden balconies) from where you could spy on the goings on below in the alleyways, were all broken and had collapsed. Nobody lived there now.

But at least drawing the people who once lived in them was easier. I knew about my family’s daily lives from the stories they told me; about going to school through the crowded narrow alleyways and markets, sleeping on the roof during the hot summer months, swimming in the Tigris river at dawn and then breakfasting on freshly-caught fish. However, they didn’t just tell me about the good memories, they told me about the bad ones too. Like all the harassment and persecution they suffered which eventually led up to the terrible 1941 Farhud (Arabic word for for pogrom) that left them feeling like they didn’t belong in Iraq any more. All of which gave me the material I needed to draw the book.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

A renewed appreciation of the rich diversity of the Jewish experience. We lived, and still live, all over the world: Afghanistan, China, Iran. I even had family in Myanmar (formerly Burma) but that is literally a whole other story. And let’s not forget that over half the Jewish population of Israel are Mizrahi, descendants from refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.

Do you think you will ever go to Baghdad?

I really hope so. It’s been in my dreams and imagination for so long. I’ve had this weird
nostalgia for a place I’ve never visited but always heard about. Growing up in London I lived in two worlds: the one at my very English school, and the one at home. You could have called our family home ‘little Baghdad’ because it was so full of Iraqi food, Iraqi-Jewish customs and our own Judeo Arabic language. I’m not quite sure what I’d find in today’s Baghdad, but the curiosity and interest demonstrated by those young students shows that maybe some Iraqis are beginning to wonder about the Jews who were once such a huge part of their country’s history but who have now all disappeared. I’m taking it as a sign of hope. And if it’s ever safe to visit, you can be sure that I’ll be taking that wolf’s tooth amulet with me!

Praise for The Cloak From Baghdad

“Provides a valuable and little-known perspective of Jewish history.”—Booklist

“Informative and gripping on the topic . . . an affecting graphic novel in which a Jewish girl learns about her family history firsthand.”—Foreword Reviews

“A powerful personal story, dramatically recounted.”—Kirkus Reviews

“An important diaspora story of Jewish diversity. . . “—School Library Journal

“An illuminating exploration of Iraqi Jewish history and the far-reaching impact of fascism and displacement.”—Publishers Weekly

Free Educator Guide

With so much history, readers might want more guidance. Download this free teaching guide to give students more structure around the graphic novel format and Flora’s story.

More about Carol Isaacs

Carol Isaacs is a keyboard player, accordionist, and writer. She has recorded and toured with many international artists including Sinéad O’Connor (Ireland), Indigo Girls (US), Ahmed Mukhtar (Iraq), Phongsit Khampee (Thailand). Also known as The Surreal McCoy, an award-winning cartoonist (published in the New Yorker, Private Eye, Spectator), Carol drew The Wolf of Baghdad graphic memoir based on her own family’s recollections and then turned it into a motion comic with music, playing Arabic accordion on the soundtrack. Her children’s story Samira’s Stars (also set in Baghdad) won the UK Jewish Children’s Book Awards in 2021.