The gulf between us

the long version

Annie Lester's life is quite a challenge. A single mother to three boys, her ex-boyfriend is now an international film star. Whilst tolerating her bigoted brother, she's trying to avoid a dismissive film producer with a mission to annoy her. And Annie Lester tackles all this in the small Gulf emirate of Hawar, where, in 2002, America's invasion of Iraq reverberates. As her life unravels in unexpected ways, Annie has to decide where her loyalties lie. Are her sons defined by who they are, or by what they do? Can a British woman ever be at home in the Middle East? And can James Hartley, the blue-eyed heartthrob adored by millions, really be serious about someone as ordinary as Annie Lester believes herself to be?