*As heard on NPR’s Fresh Air*

One of The New York Times’s “Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026”

From one of the boldest and most captivating voices in world literature, a sensual and provocative coming-of-age novel about a young Arab woman on a quest for sexual and political freedom

“Propulsive and fearless . . . I won’t be surprised if this book finds readers for generations to come.” —Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies and The Radiance

“Leila Slimani is one of our best writers, a master stylist and an exquisite storyteller. I read anything she writes.” —Rabih Alameddine, National Book Award–winning author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

Q: If your house was burning down, what would you take with you?
A: I’d take the fire.
                           --Jean Cocteau

Mia Daoud yearns to be free. Growing up in socially conservative Morocco, her imagination fired by her banker father’s charisma and political idealism, her doctor mother’s feminist example and social conscience, and the boundless possibilities suggested by her favorite authors, she learns to go after what she wants, even if it means jumping through fire to get it. Determined to be true to her sexuality and to differentiate herself from her adoring younger sister, she sets out in search of her place in the world, from Casablanca to Paris to London, and against the backdrop of era-defining events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11, guided by a preternatural sense of justice and an unerring instinct for what makes her feel most alive. Combining vigorous poetry and unflinching bravery, Leila Slimani’s autobiographical novel is a rousing ode to living a life of purpose and consequence.