'One of the most unforgettable books I have read in the last few years... What a writer! What a thinker! What a woman!' Fiammetta Rocco 'Lyrical, compassionate, and deeply original, it has stayed with me, and is the novel I have most enjoyed this year' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland The Dragonfly Sea follows the unforgettable Ayaana's journey to adulthood after her small-island childhood is interrupted. Targeted first by religious fundamentalists and second by Chinese emissaries, Ayaana is sent on a container ship to study in China, where she is forced to grow up fast. With its epic scope and lush lyricism, Owuor evokes a fascinating kind of beauty in this dangerous, chaotic world and its ever-shifting oceans and trade. A transcendent story of love and adventure, and of the inexorable need for shelter in a dangerous world.