A brilliant novel that delivers on more than being merely ‘of the moment’. It delivers a very humane story that brilliantly articulates the migrant experience, but will also resonate with those who live with the joy and pain of living across cultures. The real strength of Exit West is the central pair of Saeed and Nadia. Mohsin Hamid has crafted two characters that truly feel of flesh and bone, both of separate identities and as a couple trying to function together. They anchor this novel, and Hamid really allows the reader to dive into their minds as they weather the storm of the migrant experience. Whilst there are many moments od dramatic tension, I never felt that the author was trying to hammer me over the head with melodrama. There was still a subtlety to Hamid’s writing that packs a punch without being overly sentimental. I’ve read a lot of articles that focus on the magical-realism aspect of the doors they characters travel through, which is somewhat of a misnomer to focus on. It is merely a mechanism to carry the story along rather than the focus of the novel. As Mohsin Hamid has articulated in several interviews, the true trauma of migration is not necessarily the journey itself, but the experience that awaits you upon arrival, as well as the life you have left behind. This is what the author has so powerfully highlighted in Exit West.

Nadia and Saeed are young people in an unnamed city (my feeling is that it is based on Syria or somewhere similar in the area but that feeling would probably change with whatever war was in the news...) who, like young people the world over, meet and begin to develop a relationship. This is dramatically intensified when simmering unrest develops into a civil war, cutting off normal means of communication. Nadia is passionate and impulsive; Saeed thoughtful and more socially/religiously conservative but they are sure they love each other. Probably. When the situation in their home city worsens further they decide to escape. So far this doesn't sound very 'magical'. The realism of the unrest/civil war/atrocities is, well, very very real. The deaths, most of which seem to be civilians who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and described with almost emotionless brutality and the day-to-day problems faced by those caught up in such conflicts are also covered in dispassionate depth. I think this feeling of disconnectedness was the first hint for me of what was to come so when the method of escape being used came up I was ready to accept it. Doors. Black doors. Which lead to other cities, other lives and other possibilities.They don't all lead to lives of luxury - the ones heading to the affluent West tend to be heavily guarded - but Nadia and Saeed move gradually westwards, through the Greek Islands and London before ending up in California. Of course, realism is still a factor, so when people move via these doors they still meet the same problems refugees face in our own reality: prejudice, poverty, political manipulation. Nadia and Saeed face the fact that their relationship was formed in an almost unreal situation and, now they are halfway round the world from home, they have to find out if it has any future. I'm not sure if I should class this book as speculative fiction, magical realism or literary fiction. It is all three. It is also a fascinating study of what it could be like to be displaced and how the world could react to an increasing influx of refugees to the West. It is beautiful and scary and well worth a read.

Set against a backdrop of war, migration, and a dramatically changing world, this is a love story unlike any I have ever read. Exit West tells of a world where doors have begun to open, allowing free passage between countries, and allowing escape. Hamid imagines what the world would become if borders became essentially meaningless, but keeps focus on Nadia and Saaed, two young lovers fleeing the war zone their city has become. I genuinely loved this novel, this was lyrically, beautifully written, and although some parts were harrowing, it always read as both true , tender and necessary. A must read.

This landed on my towering reading pile thanks to The Between The Covers Series 3 reading list. Previously shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2017, so I had heard about it but never previously purchased. This is beautifully written, utterly heart breaking and certainly worth the read. I found the doors a little quirky in the story but they do serve the purpose of travel to the unknown. Very happy to recommend on to others to read and I will certainly check out any other books by this author.

I received a free copy of this novel from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Nadia and Saeed, a young couple living in an unidentified city packed with refugees and imminently threatened by war, attempt to continue their normal lives as the world falls apart around them. As street fighting turns the city into a hellish nightmare they are forced to flee, using the doors that have mysteriously emerged across the world, helping refugees flee their circumstances by stepping into the unknown. The hysterical response of the Western world means that what will happen to these people is far from certain – the refugees’ precarious position could end in bloodshed at any moment. Hamid’s positioning of a love story within the refugee crisis humanises people who are often demonised by politicians and media coverage – these are people like you and me who just want to live in safety and freedom with their loved ones. Though sympathetically articulating the position of the refugee Hamid avoids a preachy tone, he shows compassion for those concerned about the influx of refugees into their safe Western cities while ultimately making it very clear the dangers and horrors that await – to both refugees but also to the soul of a society that attacks them - if humanity does not prevail. Exit West is a thought-provoking novel. The emergence of the doors is a clever device – making the flow of people completely unregulated, which plays into the frightened hysteria, drastically increasing the threat of conflict. Mohsin Hamid writes so well – only to be expected by someone nominated for the Booker for his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist – and this is certainly worth reading.