While I've enjoyed earlier books by this author, I've never been blown away by them, and that pattern continues with her latest release. It's a collection of short stories, most of them set in either Scotland or the Sudan, and most of them focusing on Scottish and Sudanese couples. A young man flies to the Sudan to meet his fiancé's family. An engaged young woman, having trouble with a statistics course at a Scottish university, befriends an awkward young man. A Sudanese woman, divorced because she did not want children, plans her wedding to a Scottish man. More of the same, and more of the same again. It got tedious, although the writing was good. That's all I really have to say. On to something better. ( )

These stories are about immigrants from Khartoum, Africa to London, England and Aberdeen, Scotland. Being of Scottish descent and having traveled there, I loved the familiarity. I also loved learning about Khartoum and its unique culture and characteristics. It helped me to put myself more in the place of an immigrant and how strange that must be.

However, it did not help me understand the plight of refugees who are fleeing for their lives with their families. In all fairness, this book didn't claim that, but I thought maybe a story or two would touch upon these immediate struggles instead of mostly students studying abroad and marrying "foreigners." Also, I didn't quite get Aboulela's fixation with people's eyes, particularly those with poor or damaged eyesight. Maybe it's a metaphor for not being able to see other people clearly? Or maybe not.

My favorite was the last story, "Pages of Fruit," in which a writer in real life does not meet the expectations of the image the reader had formed. There were subtle complexities I found appealing. This story, too, is tame, though, compared with the danger refugees are facing today.

Read it for a glimpse into these fictional immigrants' lives, but don't expect it to be earth-shattering. The writing is good, but the characters and plots could have easily been set almost anywhere. ( )