A5, 162 pages, Black & white digitally printed, Perfect bound, Softcover, 2019

“It is often the subtle things – the words used, the tone of voice, a look – that reveal the most about how we are perceived by others. Prejudice, whether indirect or overt, causes irreparable damage to many people’s lives.

This story, based on real-life experiences, follows Atusa from her childhood in post-revolution Iran to the UK where she decides to settle. As time goes on, and as the truth about the UK’s attitude towards its less welcome migrants unfolds, Atusa realises that establishing a new life costs her more than she expected. She shows remarkable resilience in forging her new life, while continuing to have compassion for all people regardless of their religion, race or background.

This is an account of what it is like to be an Iranian migrant living as a citizen in the UK, and the frustration and heartbreak of being one of the least trusted nationalities in Britain. How do you make friends or secure a job or find a partner when it’s assumed that you’re a fundamentalist, even a terrorist? How do you persuade yourself to deny several thousand years of your native culture and history in order to be accepted in your new country?

A Migrant’s Guide To The Western Galaxy is a book about both the past and the present moment. It charts the personal experiences of a young girl with a promising future during a period of radical change in Iran as she makes a new life for herself in the West, and poses the question: is the grass really greener on the other side?”