'I carry my troubled homeland within me; I hide it like a crime.'

Growing up in conservative Saudi Arabia, Suad Aldarra felt stifled by the strictures placed on women. She yearned for the vibrant Syrian streets of her family's origin. When the opportunity arose to study at Damascus University, she jumped at the chance to move to a city she loved and to experience a degree of freedom she'd never known. But when the war started, everything changed.

Suddenly Suad was thrown into a world of relentless pressure desperately looking for a way out. Her degree in software engineering was the saving grace that allowed her to travel to Ireland on a working visa. Yet reaching safety came at a price ...

'Illuminating, vivid, and insightful, this is such a timely book. LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol

'Full of heart, honesty and hard-learnt wisdom... a captivating journey across continents, history and culture. I literally couldn't put this book down.' JAN CARSON author of The Raptures

'Powerful, fascinating and deeply moving - this book pushes aside our lazy images of human migration and refugees. I loved it.' RODDY DOYLE