Winner of the Moore Prize 2021

'A beautiful, moving and important book' – Simon Reeve

The gripping true-life story of three young people in the world's youngest country, South Sudan, whose lives are ripped apart by a brutal war.

Veronica is a teenager when civil war erupts in South Sudan, the world's youngest country. Lonely and friendless after the death of her father, she finds solace in her first boyfriend, and together they flee across the city when fighting breaks out. On the same night Daniel, the son of a colonel, also makes his escape, but finds himself stranded beside the River Nile, alone and vulnerable. Lilian is a young mother who runs for her life holding the hand of her little boy, Harmony – until a bomb attack wrenches them apart and she is forced to trek on alone.

After epic journeys of endurance, these three young people's lives cross in Bidi Bidi in Uganda – the world's largest refugee camp. There they meet James, a counsellor who helps them find light and hope in the darkest of places. In a gripping true-life narrative, Rosalind Russell tells their stories with uplifting empathy and tenderness.