Whether in subsidised housing in Bern, on a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean, or in a slum in Cairo’s cemetery city, the seven protagonists of this novel are in transit. They yearn for an arrival, a new home, acceptance, or tranquillity. The stories interwoven in the novel show that love is always central – even when fleeing war, or in a forced marriage, or dealing with painful memories or the pressures of self-realisation. Demian Cornu’s debut is about setting off but also about the hope of someday arriving at a place one may always have remembered, despite never having seen it before.