Leila Aboulela

From one of our finest contemporary writers Leila Aboulela offers us a rich tableau of life as an immigrant abroad. Shuttling between the dusty, sun-baked streets of Khartoum and the university halls and cramped apartments of Aberdeen and London, she explores, with subtlety and restraint, the profound feelings of yearning, loss and alienation that come with leaving one's homeland in pursuit of a different life.

Najwa, an educated, upper class, westernised Sudanese woman finds herself in political exile in London, working as a cleaner. Her Muslim faith gives her solace, as well as a common bond with Tamer, as love begins to blossom.