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Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017.
An extraordinary story of love and hope from the bestselling, Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, Saeed and Nadia lock eyes across their classroom. After a while, they talk, he makes her smile and they start to fall in love. They try not to notice the sound of bombs getting closer every night, the radio announcing new laws, the curfews and the public executions.
Eventually the problem is too big to ignore: it’s not safe for Nadia to live alone and she must move in with Saeed, even though they are not married, and that too is a problem. Meanwhile, rumours are spreading of strange black doors in secret places across the city, doors that lead to London or San Francisco, Greece or Dubai. One day soon the time will come for Nadia and Saeed to seek out one such door, joining the great outpouring of those fleeing a collapsing city, hoping against hope, looking for their place in the world.
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Exit West Synopsis
A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick - Booker Gems
THE NEW YORK TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017
WINNER OF THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE
'Astonishing' Zadie Smith
'Stunning' Spectator
'Extraordinary' TLS
An extraordinary story of love and hope from the bestselling author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist
All over the world, doors are appearing.
They lead to other cities, other countries, other lives.
And in a city gripped by war, Nadia and Saeed are newly in love.
Hardly more than strangers, desperate to survive, they open a door and step through.
But the doors only go one way.
Once you leave, there is no going back.
*Coming soon as a major Netflix film - produced by Michelle and Barack Obama and starring Riz Ahmed*
'One of the year's most significant literary works' The New York Times
'A masterpiece' Michael Chabon
'Addictively readable and brilliantly written. Fantastic' Mail on Sunday
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9780241979068 |
Publication date: |
8th February 2018 |
Author: |
Mohsin Hamid |
Publisher: |
Penguin Books an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
228 pages |
Primary Genre |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction
|
Recommendations: |
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Mohsin Hamid Press Reviews
Writing in spare, crystalline prose, Hamid conveys the experience of living in a city under siege with sharp, stabbing immediacy Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Immediately canonical New Yorker
As with the very best literature, its crystalline readability fast eclipses its topicality Mail on Sunday
Publisher's description. In an unnamed city swollen by refugees but not yet at war, two young people meet and fall in love. They pretend not to hear the sound of bombs getting closer every night. But one day soon they will have to escape this place, running for their lives, searching for their place in the world. Penguin
Impressive... Exit West confirms Hamid's reputation as a brilliant ventriloquist who is deeply engaged with the most pressing issues of our time -- Andrew Motion (Book of the Week) Guardian
Powerful... Hamid unfolds the disintegration of civic life and the couple's poignant intimacy with vivid, economical strokes. Hamid is the master of the illuminating metaphor Sunday Times
Wry [and] intelligent... Part pared-down romance, part 21st-century fable for a world of porous borders, Exit West is a thought experiment that pivots on the crucial figure of this century: the migrant Financial Times
A subtle and moving examination of how human relationships endure and falter under unimaginable pressures. Exit West is an instant classic GQ
Breathlessly relevant... Hamid's book could hardly be more timely; it's addictively readable and brilliantly written to boot Mail on Sunday
About Mohsin Hamid
Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School and worked for several years as a management consultant in New York. His first novel, Moth Smoke, was published in ten languages, won a Betty Trask Award, and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. His essays and journalism have appeared in Time, the New York Times and the Guardian, among others. Mohsin Hamid currently lives, works and writes in London.
More About Mohsin Hamid