The novel Exit West was written by author Mohsin Hamid. It was published in the year 2017. The novel is based on issues of migration and refugees.

The story is about a young couple, Saeed and Nadia, who lives in an unnamed city swollen with refugees, fall in love, and flee away from the city to different lands to start a new life. Saeed met Nadia in an evening class on corporate identity and product branding. Saeed noticed Nadia for some days and asked her out for coffee. Nadia hesitated in the beginning but eventually said yes, and soon both of them liked each other and started dating each other. 

Saeed is a simple, thoughtful, and conservative person who lives with his parents and works in an agency that specializes in outdoor advertising. He is an independent and subtle man and does not believe in religion strongly but does pray sometimes. He was against premarital sex, while on the other hand, Nadia is a strong-minded and independent woman. She is not at all religious and used the cultural and religious traits of society as an advantage for her own benefit. Nadia wears a hijab-clad from the tip of her toes to the bottom of the jugular notch. Nadia works in an insurance company, lives alone in her apartment, and rides a motorcycle. Nadia grew up in a highly religious family with his sister but never believed in them. She opposed religious beliefs, and due to her rebelling attitude, her father abandoned her, and she had to move out. 

Saeed and Nadia started developing strong feelings towards each other and finally ended in a relationship. They spend time with each other, drink, smoke marijuana, and are happy together. Their love blossomed like a rose even though they're surrounded by violence and war.

As the war breaks out in their city, violence between the militants and government grew intense. The militants started attacking the city, and soon the situation became anarchic and disruptive. There was violence everywhere, and this led to curfew all over the city, ceasing all mediums of communication.

The violence killed Nadia's cousin. Saeed's mother also got killed in gunfire by the militants. Nadia moves into Saeed's family after the death of his mother. She started living comfortably with Saeed and his father, even though the violence around them became more and more intense.

To stay safe and live, and answerable to militants, Nadia and Saeed had to make fake marriage documents, even though they were not married. In the time of staying together, the rumors about the black doors were making news. There were rumors that there is a magical black door in the city that portals you to different lands. Nadia and Saeed began searching for the doors after listening to the rumors and luckily were successful in finding a door by bribing an agent. However, after getting the door, Saeed's father ignored going along with them. He did not want to be a burden to his son and Nadia, and also he did not want to leave his wife's memories along with the city. Nevertheless, He made Nadia promise to always stay with his son. Nadia felt bad leaving Saeed's father but she had to do it anyway. “But that is the way of things,” Hamid writes, “for when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.”[Exit West, 2017,Chapter 5,p.98]

"he stood beside where she stood, and she stood beside where he stood, ... but they did not see each other …" [Exit West, 2017, Chapter 6]

Saeed starts their new journey with Nadia passing through the magical black door and leaving his father in the city. They landed in Mykonos, the Greek island, where they were not alone. There were several other refugees along with them. Both of them settled themselves in the outskirts of the refugee camps and started building a new life. They stood next to each other and were together. However, even they were together physically, but emotionally no more connected or bonded.

Soon, Nadia became good friends with a Greek girl who helped to find out the other unguarded door which landed them in a luxury house in London.

However, with the growing number of migrants in the house from all parts of the world, issues of attacks and groups started taking place. The migrants were segregated in a ghetto. There was no availability of proper food and electricity in these places. This also affected the relationship between Saeed and Nadia. Saeed was more to his countrymen while Nadia preferred Nigerians. And one day, a raid by police takes place after the maid arrives at the house, and the migrants have to clear out from there.

The migrants moved outside, which led to friction between locals of London. As a result, the government had to plan out something for the migrants and introduced a new housing and labor program for the migrants. Saeed and Nadia joined the program and built their own house within a few months. However, a sharp bitterness in their relationship continued. They were not happy together or individually, and hence, they again moved to Marin, California, through a door, after Nadia suggested Saeed.

Saeed and Nadia led separate lives but stayed faithful to each other. Nadia starts working at a food cooperative while Saeed gets enthralled by a preacher and becomes more religious. The distance between Saeed and Nadia's relationship grew stronger. There was no more love between them, and thus, Nadia decided to part their ways. Saeed was attracted to the preacher's daughter, and Nadia, keeping her promise, broke the relationship with Saeed. After parting their ways, Nadia gets into a relationship with a cook in her food cooperative while Saeed gets married to the preacher's daughter.

However, after fifty years, they meet again when Nadia decides to return to her hometown. They go for coffee and talk about their lives. Saeed proffers her to take to Chile to see the stars, and they again part their ways with having no idea if that time would ever arrive in their life. And this how the story ends with the message, "We are all migrants through time".

Exit West is a powerful and beautiful novel of humanity that talks about the refugee crisis. It talks about the refugee lives and the problems faced by them. It also shares the experience of people living in war zones. The book is a masterpiece and a must-read.