Hinterland by Caroline Brothers

Hinterland

Caroline Brothers

I intended to read only a few chapters at first, but my weekend was soon consumed with following the journey of two Afghani orphan brothers trying to reach sanctuary in London. Written at times in a journalistic rather than melodramatic style, and knowing that similar events are happening to refugee children fleeing untold brutality today, made this novel seem more real and harrowing.

Extract
The truck deposits them on a roadside in the middle of nowhere before dawn.
‘OUTOUTOUT!’ the driver yells. He hits the nearest of them with a wheel wrench to make sure.
Spitting stones, the truck accelerates immediately into fading night.
They stagger into the roadway, and break up into groups, and scatter in all directions. They are hunger-cramped, disoriented, cold. The baby, Aryan realizes, never once let out a cry.
Parallels
  • Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
  • What is the What by Dave Eggers