A powerful, intimate memoir of Eritrean-British journalist, Hannah Azieb-Pool, who returns to Eritrea at the age of 30 to meet her family for the first time.

What a story. So vivid, honest and moving' Andrea Levy, author of Small Island

'When I stepped off the plane in Asmara, I had no idea what lay ahead, or how those events would change me . . .'

In her twenties, Hannah-Azieb Pool is given a letter that unravels everything she knows about her life. She knew she was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea, and as her adoptive family brought her to the UK, they believed she did not have any surviving relatives.

When she discovers the truth in a letter from her brother - that her birth father is alive and her Eritrean family are desperate to meet her - she is faced with a critical choice.

Should she go?

In this intimate memoir, she takes us with her on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, as she travels to Eritrea to uncover her own story. With radiant warmth, courage and wisdom, Hannah-Azieb disentangles the charged concepts of identity, family and home. Featuring a new introduction from Bernardine Evaristo and an updated afterword from the author, this is a timeless, essential read.

'Remarkable' Observer

Selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books from black Britain and the diaspora, which remap the nation and reframe our history.

Her story is as much about an adopted child facing up to the challenge of tracing her biological family as it is about her search for African roots . . . Pool's candour is striking . . . [She gives] a sense of what it is like to be a young person of African descent who is unquestionably British * Observer *
The sentiment is never pity... rather awe - at the depth of Hannah's experience, her courage in confronting it and her sucess in making sense of it all * The Times *
Groundbreaking . . . Displaying a deft touch in warm prose . . . Pool’s personal journey encourages shift, transformation, and a commitment to ongoing survival * Wasafiri *
What a story. So vivid, honest and moving -- Andrea Levy, author of Small Island
In this beautifully honest book, Pool gives us a front-row view of how identity is built up, but also how it's dismantled . . . Simply engrossing * Time Out *

Hannah Azieb Pool (Author)
Hannah Azieb Pool is Artistic Director & CEO of the Bernie Grant Arts Centre and founder of the Tottenham Literature Festival. A journalist for over 20 years, Hannah Azieb has written for many international publications including The Guardian, The Times, Stylist and Vogue Magazine UK. Hannah Azieb is the author of two books: Fashion Cities Africa and My Fathers' Daughter, and was Associate Editor of Arise Magazine. Hannah Azieb was previously the Senior Programmer for Contemporary Culture at the Southbank Centre, where she curated Africa Utopia, the annual festival celebrating arts and ideas from across Africa and the diaspora, she was also a lead programmer of the WOW Women of the World festival.
Hannah Azieb is a trustee of LIFT (the London International Festival of Theatre), and on the Artist's Advisory Board of the Manchester International Festival and a patron of the SI Leeds prize for unpublished fiction by UK Black and Asian women.

Bernardine Evaristo (Introducer)
Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora.

Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020.

In 2025 she was awarded the Women's Prize Outstanding Contribution Award. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009 and an OBE in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine.

Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and President of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband.
www.bevaristo.com