Exit West is a contemplative take on what it means to be a migrant in the 21st century. Nadia and Saeed are the central characters; two young professionals from an unnamed country torn apart by war and conflict. Their lives change forever when they exit through mysterious doors that transport them to other parts of the world, and they begin their journey as migrants in more ways than one.
I was disappointed to find that the concept of these doors was only a minor part of the story – this is not a magical realism novel in the slightest. Although I quite liked how the doors exist and are accepted alongside the more real aspects of the world (like war, for example) to emphasise how normal the unimaginable can become.