Exit West (2017)

I think I am probably in the minority in rating this book with three stars. It was my book club's pick for November 2018 so it will be interesting to see what other people think of it.

Saeed and Nadia are young adults in a city that is on the brink of civil war. They are taking a night class and Saeed finally works up the nerve to ask Nadia for coffee. They are both Muslim although Nadia doesn't pray anymore but she does wear a long black dress covering her entire body. Nadia lives by herself but Saeed still lives with his parents so when they meet they go to Nadia's place. Then the fighting intesifies;the places where Saeed and Nadia work close down and Saeed's mother is killed by gunfire. Nadia goes to help out Saeed and his father and she ends up staying. As the situation worsens they learn that some people are escaping the city by going through doors. They arrange to escape together with Saeed's father but he refuses because he does not want to leave his wife's grave. When Saeed and Nadia go through the door they find themselves in Mykonos. Along with many other refugees they live a bare bones existence. This is only the first place they travel to and with each entry through a door they improve their circumstances but they grow farther apart. Saeed becomes more religious while Nadia continues to resist that call. Eventually, living in Marin County in California they separate.

For me the general uncertainty about where Saeed and Nadia started out and the method that they used to move to other countries required a suspension of belief that make me uncomfortable. Add in the author's propensity to have run-on sentences taking up most of a page and I was regretting reading the book. There were some interesting observations about human behaviour especially when the couple was in Britain. The native people (or at least some) resented these immigrants arriving in their midst and there was almost a lethal response against them. Seems reminiscent of the sentiment that lead Britain into voting to withdraw from the EU (which hasn't turned out that well). ( )

This short book deftly captures the refugee/migrant experience. Hoping for a better life or just to be away from danger, the two MCs migrate to foreign lands through doors connecting them. A little bit of magical realism, but overall a strong statement on our times. ( )

This was an interesting take on the immigrant/migrant experience, delivered as an almost-speculative-fiction account. Sometimes I think I lost the thread (or the bread crumbs scattered, no doubt, to help me find my way back) between the side stories and the main character plot line, but there were definitely moments that enthralled (like the sometime-in-the-future portrait of Marin County, CA). (Brian) ( )

This was a political allegory artfully written and narrated beautifully by the author. A local young couple meet in an unnamed middle eastern country on the brink of war.As life becomes more horrifying, they escape through doors which are actually portals to other countries - Landing first on a Greek island, then in London and finally in Sausilito, California, they find that life as a refugee is hard, and rebuilding a life in the midst of unrest and constant struggle to find food, friendship and peace is extremely challenging -

The current refugee experience and the possibility of a very depressing future is reflected in this brief cautionary story of love and loss, alienation and struggle to create home against impossible odds. ( )

Travails of a young couple leaving their war-torn country to emigrate to the U.S. aided by a touch of magic. ( )