A staggering investigation into the costs and consequences of displacement, from a young woman uniquely placed to explore the refugee experience and its aftershocks
**Longlisted for the Bread & Roses Award 2025**
‘Brave, powerful, and deeply necessary ... A vital contribution to the Black British literary canon’ Afua Hirsch
‘Fresh and important’ Guardian
‘An exceptional book’ Sally Hayden
‘Wonderful’ Financial Times
‘An extraordinary story’ Nish Kumar
When Aamna Mohdin travelled to Calais to report on the refugee crisis, she was confronted by a reality she had been outrunning for two decades: that she had been a child refugee herself.
Determined to piece her scattered family history together, Mohdin set off on a mission. Her journey would see her cross the world: from the rooftops of Mogadishu to a reunion with a long-lost friend in Amsterdam to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Scattered is a powerful investigation into the aftershocks of displacement, written by a young woman uniquely placed to explore the refugee experience. But it is also a story of homecoming in many forms – and a defiant celebration of family and love.
‘In a moment where refugees are rarely heard from, her voice breaks through’ Gary Younge
‘Mohdin explores her Somali family’s refugee experience across continents in her wonderful book’ Financial Times
"The startling honesty and intimacy of this depiction of one family’s chaotic quest to find sanctuary feels fresh and important" - GUARDIAN
"Journalist Aamna Mohdin explores her Somali family’s refugee experience across continents in her wonderful new book Scattered" - FINANCIAL TIMES
"Reporting for the Guardian from the Calais refugee camp, Mohdin felt a jolt of recognition: she had once been a child refugee herself. From there she travels to Somalia, the country her parents fled, and back into her own past." - Guardian, The books to look out for in 2024
"Powerful and evocative" - Bookseller, Editor's Choice
"Mohdin’s intimate portrayal of her family’s quest for sanctuary feels especially important in this moment ... Such stories are vital to foster understanding of the causes of the so-called ‘asylum crisis’, and the impact of violent border policies" - NEW INTERNATIONALIST
