A young woman’s experience of exile belies promises of safety and solidarity in the first English-language novel from award-winning Spanish author Cristina Cerrada

Heda, a university student, is forced to flee with her family from one European country to another after her father, a well-known intellectual, is denounced and life in their war-torn nation becomes untenable. Now Heda works in a paper factory, as does the man who assaulted her in her home country. When the workforce prepares to strike, the threat to her family grows. Fear and violence are constants in her life, yet she must find a way to get through each day, knowing that her youthful dreams have been sacrificed and every choice she makes is a dangerous one.

In spare, arresting prose that lays bare the psychic devastation of war and exile, Cristina Cerrada reveals the impossible compromises refugees must make to survive.