Product Description'A thrilling, defiant novel' FATIMA BHUTTO'A masterpiece' MARC LAMONT HILL'Wonderful ... Shines a ray of hope into some very dark places' MICHAEL PALIN'A fearless work of imagination' AHDAF SOUEIFWinner of the Palestine Book AwardNahr has been confined to the Cube: nine square metres of glossy grey cinderblock, devoid of time, its patterns of light and dark nothing to do with day and night. Journalists visit her, but get nowhere; because Nahr is not going to share her story with them. The world outside calls Nahr a terrorist, and a whore; some might call her a revolutionary, or a hero. But the truth is, Nahr has always been many things, and had many names. She was a girl who learned, early and painfully, that when you are a second class citizen love is a kind of desperation; she learned, above all else, to survive. She was a girl who went to Palestine in the wrong shoes, and without looking for it found what she had always lacked in the basement of a battered beauty parlour: purpose, politics, friends. She found a dark-eyed man called Bilal, who taught her to resist; who tried to save her when it was already too late. Nahr sits in the Cube, and tells her story to Bilal. Bilal, who isn't there; Bilal, who may not even be alive, but who is her only reason to get out.ReviewA thrilling, defiant novel ... Reads as a riot act against oppression, misogyny, and shame -- FATIMA BHUTTOAbulhawa's novel is a love story ... She elegantly crafts a world where the tension between desire and survival is laid bare ?New YorkerA powerful and subversive story of trauma and survival for fans ofMy Sister, The Serial Killer andHer Body and Other Parties ?The MillionsSusan Abulhawa has reached greater heights with her new and courageous novel. Wide in its scope and breadth it is a lively, exciting book that is difficult to put down. The work of a seasoned, accomplished writer, this is a bold and dazzling work which is sure to arouse controversy -- RAJA SHEHADAHNahr is a wonderful creation, strong-willed, passionate, unapologetic and adventurous. Her refusal to accept the subordination expected of her propels the story at a thrilling pace. Her determination to find love in a loveless world and her unquenchable spirit in adversity shines a ray of hope into some very dark places -- MICHAEL PALINA fearless work of imagination and documentary gathering power and depth as it sweeps along -- AHDAF SOUEIFA masterpiece ... Forces us to wrestle with the complexities of love, freedom, struggle, and shame in ways that both inspire and challenge our very conceptions of what it means to be human. A major literary contribution that further cements Abulhawa's status as one of the most important writers of our generation -- MARC LAMONT HILLThe writer's pain - and the beauty of her prose - are very real ?Daily TelegraphOne of the most thought-provoking books I've read ... written with passion and honesty, and poetry ?Daily MailAbulhawa's writing shines ... Friendship, adolescence, love: ordinary events, offset against extraordinary circumstances, make the story live ?IndependentHard to bear but impossible to ignore . Shows how history's assault on each person is public, and how it nevertheless cannot extinguish the private experience of grief or the secret sense of eros. Abulhawa's vision is precise, courageous, and dazzling -- Teju ColeIn trueThousand and One Nights style, Abulhawa surprises us by continually unfolding new stories . Characters struggle to keep their secrets, but Abulhawa releases them. These are secrets we need to know, secrets that will educate us about ourselves ?GuardianA transformative literary grace. Abulhawa's prose is luminous ?Independent on SundayA fine observer of female kinship ... A powerful read ?Financial TimesA family saga with global reach, these stories jump off the page and into the soul and reach far beyond any headline or statistic, past the head, to the heart --