"Keenly observed, fierce, honest and yet light of touch."--Economist

"Karmi's great achievement is to humanise the Palestinian predicament. Violent uprooting and exile have permanent psychological effects, which, as the Jewish people discovered, are not necessarily assuaged by the passage of time. We need counter-narratives like this, because we have recently learnt that it is not only parochial but also dangerous to ignore the pain and rights of others."--Independent

"A very timely book in the current political situation ... This should serve to remind people just what the big fuss in the Middle East is all about."--Ahdaf Soueif, Times Literary Supplement

"Ghada Karmi writes simply and poignantly. Here is a story of our time, exile and dispossession."--Jewish Chronicle

"One of the finest, most eloquent and painfully honest memoirs of the Palestinian exile and displacement, which western power and its creature, Israel, have normalised."--New Statesman

"Compelling and beautifully written."--Independent