Exit West with Mohsin Hamid...No, Really, Do It


In Mohsin Hamid’s ExitWest, two lovers, Saeed and Nadia, flee an unnamed country in the middle of a civil war, travel through magical doors, and try to find new lives for themselves, first in Greece, England, and finally the United States. Through a mix of the horrors of war and the fantasy of the doors, Hamid tells the story of how Nadia and Saeed grow together and apart by the end.

Saeed and Nadia’s personalities push Exit West along. Saeed is fairly shy and is lead by more traditional values about relationships and family, at least at the beginning of the novel. Nadia is independent and free spirited. Hamid does each character service by showing neither personality as better, each with its strengths and weaknesses. As they clash, we also see their mutual respect and love help them find middle ground. It is a study in compromise, which helps the couple survive.

Another layer of Exit West is Hamid’s examination of how relocation for a refuge population changes the refugee, mentally, emotionally, fundamentally. Hamid’s choice to not focus on the journey, by giving Nadia and Saeed and other refugees doors they can step through to their next place, makes for a shorter book, and a more focused look at the dynamics of starting life anew in a strange place.

Hamid has stitched together a story of war, individual refugees, relocation, and a compelling relationship into an entertaining, engrossing 256 pages. As Saeed grows in confidence through the various moves, Nadia also changes. By the end, when they break up, they have become two different people than when they first fled their home country. It feels appropriate when they split, they part as friends, and the reader feels they have learned from and grown fond of both of them. 

Thanks to my old Oberlin buddy Mary Wilson for recommending Exit West.

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