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'Meticulously documented, full of drama . . . filled with smuggling, violence, ever-changing loyalties and tension . . . this is a tale fluently told, and a thriller as well' Kate Adie, Literary Review

On 17 October 2013, teenage sisters Ayan and Leila Juma left their family home near Oslo, seemingly as usual. Later that day they sent an email to their unsuspecting parents, confessing they were in fact on their way to Syria. They had been planning the trip for months in secret.

What follows is the gripping, heart-breaking story of a family ripped apart by one fatal decision.

Åsne Seierstad - working closely with the family - followed the story from the beginning, through its many dramatic twists and turns. This is, in part, a story about Syria. But most of all it is a story of what happens to apparently ordinary people when their lives are turned upside down by conflict and tragedy.

'A modern tragedy. And a universal one . . . None of us truly knows what teenagers think, behind their closed doors, nor what tomorrow will bring' The Times