Exit West

Imagine the city you lived in became embroiled in a civil war. What would you do? Would you stay or leave? Would you continue with your daily life, your job, your schooling? How long do you think it would take you to stop noticing the sound of gunfire?

In Exit West, author Mohsin Hamid uses the growing friendship of Nadia and Saeed to centre his story of migration and refugees. It is a story which charts the course of an intimate relationship in a city succumbing to civil war. It is also a story about portals, whether they are physical doors which may lead to another country or technological "doors" that offer instant communication and information via access to the internet.

I enjoyed Hamid's juxtaposing of smartphones and tablets with magical doors that can transport you far away across borders or seas. From a certain point of view, smartphones and tablets are portals to other lands. Some readers have criticized this choice of plot device by the author. In an otherwise realistic novel we suddenly stumble upon elements of C.S Lewis's Narnia stories: a door to another land. It is the only speculative element in the story and one which the reader should be aware of before reading.

In using a plot device that offers instantaneous travel, Hamid cuts out the need to describe the geographical journey of his characters. This is another bone of contention with some readers who argue that the description of the "journey" is essential to the refugee experience. It wasn't a problem for me. What I found more interesting was how quickly Saeed and Nadia had to adapt to their new surroundings each time they went through a door. Without the time and hardships of the journey, would they believe they had really travelled anywhere outside of their minds? It was a shame the author didn't explore this line of thinking.