The book is instantly gripping.

Ardent, harrowing and occasionally exasperating.

This book combines deep research into the arcane workings of the asylum process with personal observations about religion, literature, cinema, and family life.

Nayeri dances smoothly between memoir and the stories of others.

Though the discussions about the mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees are insightful, abrupt changes of subject somewhat undermine the force of Nayeri’s arguments. The result is an incisive yet scattered investigation into the nature of doubt..