Scattered: A memoir of three homecomings

(Paperback)

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**Longlisted for the Bread & Roses Award 2025**

A staggering investigation into the costs and consequences of displacement, from a young woman uniquely placed to explore the refugee experience and its aftershocks

A gifted storyteller Gary Younge
Fresh and important Guardian
An exceptional book Sally Hayden

When Aamna Mohdin travelled to Calais to report from the frontlines of 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. On her journey, she would not only confront the devastating legacy of displacement, but grapple with her own identity: as a Somalian; as a refugee; and as a Black British woman.

Scattered is a staggering investigation into the costs and consequences of displacement, written by a young woman uniquely placed to explore the refugee experience. But it is also an epic journey of returns and reunions, of facing the past and reckoning with trauma; and a defiant and joyful celebration of family.

Reviews

A compelling story in which resilience and humanity triumph over tragedy and displacement ... In a moment where refugees are often talked about but rarely heard from, her voice breaks through -- GARY YOUNGE
A brave, powerful, and deeply necessary book. Aamna Mohdin excavates her past with grace, honesty, and unflinching courage - exploring survivors guilt, identity, mental health, and the resilience of the Somali diaspora. A vital contribution to the Black British literary canon -- AFUA HIRSCH
The startling honesty and intimacy of this depiction of one familys chaotic quest to find sanctuary feels fresh and important * GUARDIAN *
Journalist Aamna Mohdin explores her Somali familys refugee experience across continents in her wonderful new book Scattered * FINANCIAL TIMES *
An absorbingly written account of exile combined with journalistic research and rigour. Aamna is such a thoughtful writer, and her voice, and this testimony, offers an essential bridge between discourse on migration in Britain and the lived experiences of many Britons, which are too often disregarded -- SALLY HAYDEN, author of the Orwell Prize-winning My Fourth Time, We Drowned
The only way out of the crisis of exclusion sweeping across the Atlantic Ocean is storytelling that overcomes apathy and scapegoating in favour of empathy and hospitality. In so luminously recounting the story of her family, and the exodus from Somalia to the United Kingdom she and her parents have lived, Aamna Mohdin achieves an imaginative breakthrough that everyone should read -- SAMUEL MOYN, Professor of Law and History at Yale University
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 *
Mohdins intimate portrayal of her familys 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 *

Author Bio

Aamna Mohdin is the Guardians first community affairs correspondent, reporting on the social, political and economic experiences of the UKs diverse communities, with a particular focus on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Mohdin spent her early years in the Kakuma refugee camp, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the Netherlands, before arriving in the UK aged seven. Mohdin is the winner of the British Journalism Award 2022 and her work has been shortlisted for the British Press Awards. She was previously a reporter at Quartz where she led the publications coverage of the European refugee crisis. She lives in London.

@aamnamohdin