PUBLISHED 12TH FEBRUARY 2026.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION.
A wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion and the decisions we make in pursuit of belonging.
'By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?'
Nadia is an academic who's been disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq.
Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues. Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen. Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines.
A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.
PUBLISHED 12TH FEBRUARY 2026.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION.
A wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion and the decisions we make in pursuit of belonging.
'By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?'
Nadia is an academic who's been disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq.
Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues. Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen. Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines.
A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.
