Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Nadia is tempestuous and independent. She lives in a war-stricken country, in the top floor of a two-storied building, alone. She enjoys the texture of her independence. Despite being stuck in a finance job, her creative outbursts seeps into margins of a notebook during a course in Finance and Corporate. Saeed is pursuing the same course. Saeed is calm and conservative. He lives with his parents and enjoys doing so. He works in an advertising agency and to augment his career, he takes the course. And this story is about these two individuals. In a hushed corridor, Saeed asks Nadia for coffee. She refuses initially, but after Saeed’s persistence, she agrees. In a war-stricken country, there’s space for bombs, and hate, but love is dismissed to tiny corners. They meet in her room and smoke marijuana. And this is how Saeed enter Nadia’s room: The bag landed beside Saeed with a muffled thump. He opened it, found her spare downstairs key, and also one of her bla...