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It's funny how the book you expect to be the most serious turns out to be incredibly entertaining. For all her academic work Nussaibah Younis has turned out an extremely amusing and thoughtful piece of fiction.

Fundamentally follows Nadia, newly employed by the UN during a sabbatical, to set up a new group that will (hopefully) deradicalise ISIS brides. Nadia travels to Iraq where she meets Sara, a young woman separated from the babe she had with one of her ISIS fighter husbands. Something about the young woman calls to Nadia and she sets out to help her get her child back and get free of ISIS.

There are some very funny moments in this book, not least of which deal with the bureaucracy set up to deal with refugees. Nadia and her colleagues have very different styles of "help" including employing a hippy Sheikh from California to help rehabilitate the women.

Both Sara and Nadia are very engaging characters. The story of their flight from the camp and to safety is (obviously) far from reality but the story is about so much more than the mechanics.

This story is more about belief, faith, love and family. It is about how we navigate the world through our beliefs and how important family is in the end.

Loved it. Highly recommended.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.