Najwa's father left when she was four years old. Now, upon her mother's death, she cannot live alone in the Islamic society of Jordan. She must find her father. Her search takes her through new dangers as she becomes swept up with a mysterious organization which sends her into the mountains of Afghanistan. For her father, this same journey was made as a wrenching sacrifice for the sake of his beliefs. Yet his experience in the desert transformed his life forever. Now it transforms Najwa's, as she is compelled to follow in his footsteps: from a heartbreaking secret in Afghanistan all the way to a revelation in Britain.
Author
Fadia Faqir (b. 1956) is a British Arab writer based in Durham, UK. Her work was translated into fifteen languages and published in eighteen countries. She is a Writing Fellow at St Aidan's College, Durham University, where she teaches creative writing. Faqir’s work is written entirely in English and is the subject of much ongoing academic research and discussion, particularly for its ‘translation’ of aspects of Arab culture. It is recognised for its stylistic invention and its incorporation of issues to do with Third World women’s lives, migration, and cultural in-betweeness
