
Named as one of the GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013. Longlisted for the Orange Prize & winner of the Betty Trask Award. For fans of Half of a Yellow Sun a stunning novel set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war & upheaval all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world. Aden Yemen 1935; a city vibrant alive & full of hidden dangers. & home to Jama a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly & he finds himself alone in the world. Jama is forced home to his native Somalia the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon & the fascist Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father who has been absent from his life since he was a baby is alive somewhere. & so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti war-torn Eritrea & Sudan to Egypt. & from there aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camps across the seas to Britain & freedom. This story of one boys long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa & its people; a story of displacement & family.