Lights in the Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe

Trilling, editor of New Humanist, provides a sympathetic look at the experience of refugees in Europe seeking new lives in the wake of war and violence in their home countries. The harrowing accounts of the interviewees’ treks from Iraq, Sudan, Mali, and beyond reveal the commonalities faced by those risking everything for a chance at a better life. These interviews discuss life in Turkish and European refugee hubs such as Izmir, Calais, Patras, and Catania, as well as the forces that have driven people to them. Sudanese teenager Jamal describes living in an abandoned factory in Patras, Greece, with 200 other Sudanese men, where there was equality among “small or big, poor or rich,” young and old that he hadn’t experienced at home. When asked why refugees come to the U.K., Zainab, who fled Iraq, replies, “Hasn’t Iraq been occupied by Britain and America? I want people to see the suffering that the populations from these places have gone through. I really wish for people to see the connection.” In this informative, compassionate book, Trilling encourages readers to see that connection and gain an understanding of what those traveling the arteries of Europe in search of a safer home are going through. (Sept.)