` As compelling as it is tough, sidestepping piety in favour of clear-eyed infectious anger` Sunday Times Irene Dalila Mwathi comes from Kenya with a brutally violent personal history. Once she wanted to be a journalist, now all she wants is to be safe. When she finally arrives, bewildered, in London, she is attacked by the very people paid to protect her, & she has no choice but to step out on her own into this strange new world. Through a dizzying array of interviews, lawyer`s meetings, regulations & detention centres, she realises that what she faces may be no less dangerous than the violence she has fled. Written with grace, humour & compassion, this timely & thought-provoking novel tackles its uncomfortable subject matter in a deeply affecting way. A book about forging dignity in a world of tragedy, & raising issues about immigration & asylum-seekers through the story of one woman`s plight, Dalila is a necessary tale of our times. It is also a work of great literary power: a slow-burning, spell-binding novel about how we treat the vulnerable & dispossessed that will leave its readers devastated.