‘A sudden blast. The ground shaking under our feet. A woman screamed and the crowd surged forward. Instinctively I crouched, taking Pearl with me. It had been a mistake coming here. The president would never allow something like this. Now it was too late.’
Fifteen-year old Mira has grown up in the small town of Zazour. Her country of Lyrian has been under the grip of a ruthless dictator for decades. Mira and her family have always lived a quiet life but everything changes after a protest in town. With Zazour under siege, they are forced to flee to a refugee camp across the border, eventually settling in Neeland, thousands of miles away.
Now, in adult life, as Mira’s father begins to fail in hospital, the secret she and her older brother Kaz have kept for years, threatens to explode - just like the bombs that fell on Zazour - and destroy the life Mira has built for herself.
