Donia Kamal takes readers on a rollercoaster of emotions through an epistolary novel that brings together fortyeight letters written to four different recipients, arranged chronologically to form a portrait of work, gender, sickness, revolution, disappointment, discrimination, and love in Egypt and the Gulf in the first two decades of the twentyfirst century. The novel unfolds in passionate letters to a late father, a growing child, a best friend, and a love interest. Not only must the narrator manage social expectations and geopolitical events, but also self-destructive impulses and deep sorrows. Through these semi-autobiographical, one-sided letters, Kamal weaves together a portrait of both personal and shared experiences in several Arab countries during an era of uncertainty. The novel fills the reader with conflicting emotions that work their way through every chapter. However, it paints in words a genuine honesty that the reader feels as they read letter after letter.