Welcome To Paradise by Mahi Binebine

Welcome To Paradise

Mahi Binebine

This book shocked me. Telling the stories of a group of would-be refugees trying to flee Africa for Europe, it shows the desperation that drives them on, while offering no certainty of happiness for any of them in the future. Bleak and uncompromising, there are moments of generosity and warmth between characters which make it bearable. Read it if you are prepared to have your comfort zone challenged.

Extract
Perhaps we should have done the same and got into training for the future:learn how to become invisible, disappear into a crowd, hug the walls, avoid eye contact, speak only when spoken to, bury our pride and close our hearts to humiliation and insults, throw our flick-knives in the gutter, learn to keep in the background, to be nobody: another shadow, a stray dog, a lowly earthworm, or even a cockroach.
Parallels
  • The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo
  • A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
  • Refusal Shoes by Tony Saint