Travellers

A Nigerian graduate student who has made

his home in America knows what it means to strike out for

new shores. When his wife proposes that he accompany

her to Berlin, where she has been awarded a prestigious

arts fellowship, he has his reservations: "1 knew every

departure is a death, every return a rebirth. Most changes

happen unplanned, and they always leave a scar"

In Berlin, Habila's central character finds himself thrown

into contact with a community of African immigrants and

refugees whose lives previously seemed distant from his

own, but to which he is increasingly drawn. The walls

between his privileged, secure existence and the stories of

these other Africans on the move soon crumble, and his

sense of identity begins to dissolve as he finds that he can

no longer separate himself from others' horrors, or from

Africa.

A lean, expansive, heart-rending exploration of loss and of

connection, Travelers inscribes unforgettable signposts-

both unsettling and luminous-marking the universal

journey in pursuit of love and home.