Those who have made the decision to get out will do whatever is necessary to enter the country of their choice. Darling is sure that her aunt will call her over one day. Their aspirations are framed in their conversations and games about richer countries of opportunity, such as Destroyed Michygen, where Darling’s Aunt Fostalina lives. Find Bin Laden, for instance, is labelled boring because they can never find him. The games the children play reflect this recognition. All are described matter-of-factly by the young narrator, Darling, desensitised by the everyday deficiencies and brutal reality of life in her country of birth. Beyond these bare facts are the searing images of everyday life: the white couple beaten and forced to watch the destruction of their affluent lifestyle the death of Darling’s mainly absent father from AIDS the elective mutism of a young teenage friend, raped by her own grandfather. Their family units are subsidised occasionally by NGOs and those family members who have left for richer countries in the West. They are often hungry and their housing is inadequate. The young gang of friends living in Paradise already know that their country is one of the poorest in the world.

They force a harsh choice: to chance illegal migration in an unknown country or endure escalating privations at home a choice which each individual must relate to his future survival chances. As NoViolet Bulawayo makes clear in the first half of the novel, we need to understand firstly that conditions in some countries are intolerably bad. This is a sobering primer, just right for the current political debate on immigration. Such people leave behind less courageous family members, but not their emotions towards those they have loved or their nation of birth.

Not just black Africans coming from Zimbabwe, like NoViolet Bulawayo, but more generally, those several generations of hardy, resourceful immigrants driven to the USA in search of a better future. This powerful narrative bears witness to the experience of economic migrants. Summary: What happens to a child who leaves her family, friends and country of birth for the chance of a better future? As a small girl, Darling desperately wanted to leave Zimbabwe for the USA, but at what price? A riveting read from a new writer.

We need new names review