I had been wanting to read this book since it came out but I kept postponing it in favour of 'lighter' books. I guess I wasn't ready to have my heart broken until now. And break my heart it did. The story is narrated beautifully. The characters, all of them, come to life and feel so real that their fate becomes even more important... a true matter of life or death. And even though you know from the very beginning that Nuri and his wife make it to the UK in the end, reading about their journey is as harrowing an experience as if you didn't have this knowledge to begin with. I guess that the events described are all too real to see them as the fictional tale of two fictional characters. The sense of place is also amazing and the emotions that all characters go through are written in such an authentic way that it's hard to not emphatise with them. A wonderful piece of literature.