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Book Review: The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay

By Georgina Rodgers
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Hardback by Atlantic Books, £18.99 (ebook £11.99)

This shocking memoir tells the story of a young Afghan boy who is sent away from his home country and smuggled to Iran at the age of 12 after his father is killed in a gun battle with the US army for hiding Taliban fighters. From Iran, he begins an epic, year-long journey as he tries to make his way across Europe to Britain.

He is thrown into prison, almost drowns on a small boat and is subjected to barbarity at the hands of underground gangs that organise migrant smuggling. Eventually he makes it to Britain and rebuilds his life, winning a place at a top university, despite the depravity and terror he has experienced.

This powerful and astonishing book is an important tale for our time, where thousands of men, women and children are attempting this journey to lead a better life, and simply do not make it.

BOOK Reviews 094561