When Nadia and Saeed first meet, their country is being torn apart by war. Islamic militants take over their city and eventually the entire country. Their love is heightened by the atrocities they witness against neighbors and loved ones. When they hear whispers about doors leading to other, better countries, they're desperate to find one. Saving and scrimping, pretending to be married, the couple slips through one door, into a refugee camp. The next door brings them farther from their homeland and everything they know. But it's the final door that makes them question not just each other, but themselves as well.
This is a brilliant book about the horrors people face in the homelands before they become refugees, as well as the indifference, hatred, and bigotry they face as refugees. I love the prose, I think Hamid's writing has a nice flow to it, and I'm amazed that he could be vague and specific at the same time. The only aspect of the story I didn't like was Nadia's insistence on wearing the black robe in public, especially after leaving the country, because she thought it made her safer.
