Cirrus@Austlit

'Zein, Farhan, Rayya and their circle are migrants of the fifties, yearning for both their future and their past. Their children, Salah, Rima, Hussein and their friends are young Australians with a distinctive voice and place succeeding or failing in the clash between generations, struggling for independence in the face of their parents' hopes and dreams. Abd al-Rahman is an Iraqi refugee who has lost everything. And Ali, Ahmad, Akram and Yusuf are children in Palestine and Baghdad who have no future, but whose stories soar.

'Mahjar is about lives, journeys and stories, about exile and the experiences that push people to new homelands. Through interwoven stories and fables it evokes Australia's intimate connection with the Middle East.' (Source: Back cover)