Publisher's Synopsis
In a bold search for new life experiences-and the eagerness to alleviate deception with traces of an international romance-the beautiful and ever-independent Isabel Alvarez trades her cozy American Dream for a chance to live within the notoriously-multicultural Kingdom of the Netherlands. Holding on to her ambitious mindset and vast work experience, she assumes to have the expat life completely under her control, unsuspecting that she would soon end up at the very bottom of the social pyramid. As she slowly adapts to her new circumstances, Isabel comes across individuals of different ethnic backgrounds who spontaneously share their life testimonies, helping her become aware of the devastating social issues that exist in the shadows of society. But above all, she is intrigued by the story of a handsome and exotic Iraqi refugee, named Samir Ishmael Youkhana, who she interviews for a special course assignment. Despite their cultural differences and colliding ways, Isabel is strongly drawn by Samir's mysterious character and Middle Eastern charm, curious to learn more of his past in Iraq, but most importantly of his people; the Assyrians-an incredible nation she never knew about before. Setting in the magnetic city of Rotterdam, Across the Border: Interview with a Refugee narrates the stories of some of the most vulnerable and persecuted people in the entire world-some of them almost completely forgotten-and of the courageous woman who takes the sensationalist blindfold off, to find herself in every one of them.
