Mahtab was hollow. Empty, as if her flesh and blood, her
energy, that kept her breathing and running, thinking and talking,
was gone. Nothing was in its place. She was hungry. Hungry for
water, for her father, for her grandmother, her aunts and uncles,
for the trees in the back yard, the cabinet on the wall, the silver
and glass objects so lovingly collected, for her mountains, the
jagged peaks that cut the sky. Her father was dead. She felt sure
of it. She was just a speck of dirt on the floor, drifting through
the gap between the boards, falling to the ground.
Mahtab and her family are forced to leave their home in Herat and
journey secretly through the rocky mountains to Pakistan and from
there to faraway Australia. Months go by, months of waiting, months
of dread, with only memories and hopes to sustain them. Will they
ever be reunited with their father, will they ever find a
home?
This compelling novel by one of Australia's best-loved children's
authors is based on the true story of one girl's voyage to
Australia with her family.
