FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LULLABY ''Personal life, social life, everyday life spring vividly from the page, and we feel deeply for the family caught in the middle of the conflict of history.'' SALMAN RUSHDIE, on The Country of Others ''Slimani is a fearless writer.'' EVENING STANDARD ''Leila Slimani has a knack for breaking taboos.'' TIMES Q: If your house was burning down, what would you take with you? A: I''d take the fire. This is the story of two sisters, Mia and Ines. Two girls enveloped in love, trapped by social conventions of Casablanca at the dawn of the 21st Century and silenced by the political ''truths'' that envelop their lives. Mia - the older sister, a warrior and a pariah, her sexuality a matter of scorn, a truth to be erased. Ines - the little sister, a woman trying to carve out an identity in a Paris that derides and erases her with no way back to Morocco, a homeland her father has warned her never to return for her own sake. As these sisters struggle to find a home, a place of safety and love that holds rather than binds this story their lives as framed by their mothers and grandmothers before them will be a battle for their hearts and souls, and one they take on with every sinew of their being.

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Leïla Slimani is the first Moroccan woman to win France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, which she won for Lullaby. A journalist and frequent commentator on women's and human rights, she is French president Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture. Leïla is also the chair of the International Booker Prize 2023 judging panel. Born in Rabat, Morocco,in 1981, she lives in Portugal.Sam Taylor is a novelist and literary translator. His previous novels have reached an international audience, and his award-winning translations include works by Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani and Marcel Proust. Born in England, Sam was a writer and editor at The Observer before moving to France. **He now lives in the United States with his family.