Longlisted for the 2013 Stella Prize
The People Smuggler – Robin de Crespigny
Nonfiction · Penguin
About the book
At once a nonfiction thriller and a moral maze, The People Smuggler: The True Story of Ali Al Jenabi is one man’s epic story of trying to find a safe place in the world.
When Ali Al Jenabi flees Saddam Hussein’s torture chambers, he is forced to leave his family behind in Iraq. What follows is an incredible international odyssey through the shadow world of fake passports, crowded camps and illegal border crossings, living every day with excruciating uncertainty about what the next will bring.
Through betrayal, triumph, misfortune – even romance and heartbreak – Ali is sustained by his fierce love of freedom and family. Continually pushed to the limits of his endurance, eventually he must confront what he has been forced to become.
“one man’s epic story of trying to find a safe place in the world.”
– 2013 Stella Prize
About the author
Robin de Crespigny
Robin de Crespigny spent three years working with Ali Al Jenabi to write his story. She is a film maker and lives in Sydney. The People Smuggler is her first book.
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