Claire Hajaj has spent her life building bridges between two worlds, sharing both Palestinian and Jewish heritage. Her childhood was split between the deserts of the Middle East and the gardens of rural England. She has lived on four continents and worked for the United Nations in war zones from Burma to Baghdad. A former journalist for the BBC World Service, Claire's writing has also appeared in Time Out London and the London Literary Review, as well as political institutions dedicated to peace. She has an M.A. in Classical and English Literature from Oxford University.

From the award-winning author of Ishmael's Oranges comes a searing novel with a profound moral conflict at its heart.

When a heart attack kills his father, young architect Nick abandons his comfortable London life to volunteer abroad for a year ? a last chance to prove himself, and atone for old sins.

But in a remote village on the edge of the Sahara, dangerous currents soon engulf him: a simmering family conflict, hidden violence and dangerous fanaticism. An illicit attraction to his host's lonely wife soon threatens both of their worlds. But when a deadly drought descends it brings an irrevocable choice: should he take matters into his own hands? Or let fate run its course? His decision has life-changing consequences for them all.