On 17 October 2013, teenage sisters Ayan and Leila Juma left their family home near Oslo, seemingly as usual. Later that day they sent an email to their unsuspecting parents, confessing they were on their way to Syria. They had been planning the trip for months in secret.
Åsne Seierstad - working closely with the family - followed the story through its many dramatic twists and turns. This is, in part, a story about Syria. But most of all it is a story of what happens to apparently ordinary people when their lives are turned upside down by conflict and tragedy.
'A masterpiece and a masterclass in investigative journalism' Christina Lamb, Sunday Times
'Meticulously documented, full of drama ... this is a tale fluently told, and a thriller as well' Kate Adie, Literary Review
'A masterwork. Brilliantly conceived, scrupulously reported and beautifully written, this book is compulsive reading' Jon Lee Anderson
Åsne Seierstad was born in 1970 and studied Russian, Spanish and the History of Philosophy at Oslo University. An internationally bestselling author, she has also received numerous awards for her journalism. She has worked as a correspondent across the world, including in Russia, China, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, Never Say War: Life inside Russia has received huge acclaim across the world and has been longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non Fiction. The Bookseller of Kabul has sold over three million copies and the paperback was in the Sunday Times top ten for over a year. Her other critically acclaimed works include A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal, The Angel of Grozny and The Afghans. Following the acts of terror in Oslo and Utoya in July 2011, she attended the trial of Anders Breivik and then began work on One of Us, which became a European bestseller. Two Sisters, her account of a family torn apart after two Norwegian girls join the war in Syria in 2013, was a number-one international bestseller and won the non-fiction category of the 2016 Brage Prize.