Exit West

Nadia and Saeed begin a new life in Marin. They live in a shantytown high up in the hills, which has a beautiful view of the bay but also little amenities. They make an efficient home, however, using a bottle to collect rainwater and attaching a solar panel to their roof. Their new community is watched over, as was their London community, by government drones; a tiny one crashes in front of Saeed and Nadia’s hut.

Nadia finds work at a food cooperative down the hill, and Saeed finds a community among a largely African American church group. He finds himself attracted to the preacher’s daughter, who is African American on her father’s side but Middle Eastern, like Saeed, on her mother’s side. Nadia finds herself missing her friend in Mykonos and thinking of her in a romantic way. However, the couple are reluctant to separate, even while they understand themselves to be growing apart. They find some melancholy solace in rekindling their old habit of smoking marijuana together. 

This chapter views “natives” in a different light than previous chapters, seeing them as an indigenous (and outnumbered) people akin to Native Americans.