Refugee week booklist

Books written by refugees or related to refugees and/or exile.

Read a book about exile is just one of the Simple Acts, a campaign inspiring individuals to use small, everyday actions to change perceptions of refugees.

All of the following are available to borrow from your library.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

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For years, Nadezhda and Vera have had as little as possible to do with each other. But now they find they'd better learn how to get along, because since their mother's death their ageing father has been sliding into his second childhood, and an alarming new woman has just entered his life.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

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A chronicle of Afghan history, and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, and the salvation to be found in love.

Ice Road - Gillian Slovo

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An epic story of struggle and betrayal, of love and loss and survival. Set against the background of the siege of Leningrad, it is a story of individual lives caught up in the web of history.

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

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Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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Set in a Soviet labour camp in the 1950s, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner.

The Other Side of Truth - Beverley Naidoo

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This is the story of 12 year-old Sade and her brother Femi who flee to Britain from Nigeria. Their mother is killed and they are sent to London, with their father promising to follow. Abandoned at Victoria Station, Sade and Femi find themselves alone in a new, often hostile, environment. Seen through the eyes of Sade, the novel explores what it means to be classified as 'illegal' and the difficulties which come with being a refugee.

Out of Egypt - André Aciman

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Set in Alexandria, this classic and much-loved memoir chronicles the exploits of André Aciman's colourful Sephardic Jewish family from its arrival in Egypt at the turn of the century to its forced departure three generations later

Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov

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A novel constructed around the last great poem of a fictional American poet, John Shade, and an account of his death. The poem appears in full and the narrative develops through the lengthy, and increasingly eccentric, notes by his posthumous editor.

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

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The story of Marjane Satrapi's life in Tehran from six to 14, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Satrapi paints a portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life.

Refugee Boy - Benjamin Zephaniah

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Alem is on holiday with his father for a few days in London. He has never been out of Ethiopia before and is very excited. They have a great few days together until one morning when Alem wakes up in the bed and breakfast they are staying at to find the unthinkable. His father has left him. It is only when the owner of the bed and breakfast hands him a letter that Alem is given an explanation.

Selling Olga: Stories of Human Trafficking and Resistance - Louisa Waugh

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Slavery is illegal in every country in the world, yet traffickers continue to buy and sell hundreds of thousands of people into illegal slave trades around the world. This book identifies the problem and also advocates what can be done about it.

Soul Mountain - Gao Xingjian

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Part travel diary, part philosophy, part love story, Soul Mountain is a novel which journeys deep into the heart of modern-day China.

Stick Out Your Tongue - Ma Jian

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Ma Jian's account of his journey around China, 'Red Dust', is a book that has captured many imaginations. Written shortly after the travels he describes there, 'Stick Out Your Tongue', though a work of fiction, draws on his experiences to create a portrait of Tibet.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

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In this story of irreconcilable loves and infidelities, Milan Kundera addresses himself to the nature of 20th century 'being'. The novel encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, and embraces, it seems, all aspects of human existence.

What Is The What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng - Dave Eggers

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What Is The What is an unflinching portrayal of the lives of two boys during the Sudanese civil war - one, at seven, too young to know what's happening to his country; the other, at ten, old enough to fight for the rebel army.

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