An Iraqi exile who worked for the CIA but became disillusioned with the Western intervention in his country, an Islamic scholar who took up residence in Turkey and murdered her lover’s wife, a safari guide cum tarot reader whose move to London was a breakfast in hell rather than the new dawn he dreamed of – these are just some of the colourful characters in Karen Dabrowska’s first collection of short stories. The characters in all eleven stories live in London but their lives are shaped by experiences abroad and dreams of a better life outside Europe.