The Unwanted: A Novel

by Boris Fishman

 Fishman’s worldbuilding is impeccable…. He skillfully ramps up the tension…. Fans of dystopian classics like 1984 will find much to savor in Fishman’s spellbinding tale.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The Unwanted is a tightrope of a tense, precise, stunning in its scope and power."—Tea Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Morningside

“Urgently contemporary and prescient in equal measure, Fishman’s The Unwanted channels the spectrum of literature’s finest, emotionally visceral dystopian masterworks, from Dune to The Handmaid’s Tale, in a fable of survival, resistance and, ultimately, maternal love.”—Lea Carpenter, author of Ilium

Award-winning, New York Times Notable author of A Replacement Life—“a born storyteller with a tremendous gift for language” (San Francisco Chronicle)— delivers a fierce and staggering new dystopian page-turner full of cruelty, tenderness, and heroism, a gripping story of family survival about a young girl and her parents fleeing civil war and the brutal dictatorship that has targeted their family.

Susanna, George, and their eight-year-old daughter, Dina, have been lucky, so far, in these four years since war broke out in their country. Even as their fellow "minority-sect" neighbors and classmates are murdered or imprisoned, George’s loyal work teaching "dominant-sect" literature has kept them fed and protected. But then the day the university fires George—despite his years of collaboration, he is no longer safe. Left without money or allies, it is time for the family to run.

Embarking on a harrowing refugee journey through camps and across the sea, both George and Susanna are forced in their own ways to make sacrifices to keep Dina safe, while Dina fights to understand the chaotic world crashing down around her. But with each member of the family struggling to survive in circumstances beyond their control, lies and betrayals multiply until it seems impossible for any of them to reach across the abyss. The Unwanted is a stunning story of what the most powerless among us will do for dignity and safety.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, War

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2025

Reviews

[Bonnie Saleeby · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book might be for some readers, it was not for me. I had a bit of trouble following the story line at first. I could not decide if it was about the past or the future. About half way through the first section. Escape, the light bulb went of and I knew the time period.

The Unwanted, is a story about a family of refuges from the planning phase until they reach the desired country. Parts of this story are very upsetting as a reader, you will feel the pain and anguish, as well as the trials the family must go through to reach a safe country. Parts of this book made me cry.

The last part of the book, I found very confusing, more than the first part of the book. Revenge, jumps ahead 14 years after coming to the new country. I felt there was a lot of missing information that would have made the complete story make more sense to me.

i gave the book 2 stars because of all the confusion. However, don't let that stop you from reading the book. As I said, this book was, not for me, I do know that another reader may enjoy the storyline much more than I did.

[Lee Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susanna, George, and their eight-year-old daughter, Dina, have been living in a country torn by civil war for 4 years. Although minority-sect, George has been able retain his position as a teacher of dominant-sect literature at the university. And then he is fired.

To allow their family to survive, each parent is forced to make terrible sacrifices and to choose among horrible alternatives. At the same time, Dina struggles to comprehend the changes in her parents and the way events spiral beyond anyone’s control.

Even though there is a relentless cruelty and a continual struggle to survive, there are also moments of when people reach out despite the dangers.

This should be required reading for anyone who believes that refugees deserve nothing.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

When is it time to leave? This is a story of refugees trying to decide. Bargains must be struck.

[Jan Talkington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an emotional story about a family caught by circumstances of birth into a complicated life. Because Susana, George and Dina are born minority sect their lives consist of walking a thin line to avoid death. The story takes us through choices that must be made, sympathetic and non sympathetic people, help and betrayal. It is a book that makes you think.

I found the telling of the story to be confusing at times. There are several characters that by the end of the book I had sorted out. But before that I would often to go back and affirm who they were. I also found the character development to be lacking a little. I felt as if I was brought right to the edge of knowing the main characters, but never taken past the edge. While I still sympathized with them and can see the atrocities they endured, I didn’t feel the emotional connection. It was more like reading a news article about people with whom I had no real connection.

Thanks to Harper and Goodreads for my copy of this book.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent premise, but overly complicated. The characters are a bit wooden, and motivations take ages to appear. It had promise, but I thought it lost its way early on, and didn't reveal the refugee experience as well as it could have.

[Beverlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you for the ARC. I wanted to love this book, but I was very confused as what time period it was until the middle and location. I personally found the whole story confusing, especially the 3rd part where so much time had passed.

[Michael Rieman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Here," a character in Boris Fishman's "The Unwanted" says, "you can't protect yourself without hurting somebody else. Protection is like electricity here. It's rationed. It's available only sometimes for some people." The man, a taxi driver, is speaking of his unnamed country, which has gone through four years of treacherous civil war, and is now governed by a former rebel. The person to whom he is speaking, Dina, had fled the country years before as a child along with her parents, hoping at that time to be approved for asylum in America. The story of that flight, first to a tent encampment and later to a guarded but sympathetic center for refugees outside the country, forms the basis of most of the narrative. Protection of his wife and daughter was certainly on the mind of George, the father in the story, who had been a literature professor at the university even during a time of difficulty for those in the "minority sect." George had held on to his position, even specializing in teaching "dominant sect" literature. His position is altered when, instead of helping one of his former students, an ardent rebel fighting the established government, George betrays the arrangement, resulting in the capture of a rebel contact. Fearful for his own life and that of his wife and daughter, he has the family prepare for a clandestine departure. Things do not go according to plan, and the escape starts out with an act of violence the effects of which will be felt long after. Attempts at protection,along with mistrust, misunderstanding and estrangement will permeate the novel, opening fissures in the relationships of the family members. The difficulties the refugees face produce confusion and defiance on the part of Dina, who struggles to understand her parents' actions. Forced to survive in difficult circumstances, Susanna and Dina take risks which are sometimes dangerous.
Over the course of the novel, Dina becomes the central character. As a child, she had developed a belief in her own "power," which sometimes worked to her advantage, but often led to problems for others. She was as wilful as she was defiant. Though that quality sometimes led to serious errors, it was also one that enabled her to seek the truth about her childhood experience, even when that pursuit produced devastating results.
The novel makes us question whether we can ever really leave the past. Is it waiting to complicate our lives? Can we really protect our loved ones and ourselves from the consequences of our actions?
The book certainly has its harrowing moments, which are not "softened' as some stories are by a successful arrival in some safe place.
The book does have its problems. The author creates several situations which are tense and dramatic but which strain credibility. I liked the repeated instances of helpful taxicab drivers, for instance ( an interesting thematic device), but I had to question the likelihood of those connections.
Sometimes I felt the author was forcing plot elements he wanted.
All in all, though, Boris Fishman has exposed us to a world in which there are no easy answers, in which cruelty exists side by side with kindness, and in which people pay a heavy price for their actions, even when they may believe they are working for the benefit of others.In fact, much of the tension of the novel can be ascribed both to George's "betrayal" and the dark ambitions of Kamil, the rebel leader whose rise to power includes deceptions of its own. Though Fishman does not name specific countries, it is possible he has taken an objective look at the country from which he himself came.

[Carol Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where are my super fans of 1984? In The Unwanted, the indomitable pulse of capitalism keeps chugging, allowing commercial dictators and rebel leaders to line their own pockets with the meager savings from refugees. Women and children are left stranded in the middle of a war that no one will even admit is happening. Susanna and her daughter, Dina, struggle and fail to keep hold of social normality in a world that was already difficult to navigate before the tents and bodily threats started. This is not for the literary faint of heart, there are only three section breaks in the whole novel, but its magic is in its drive to build empathy towards real current issues--both personal and global.

[Teresa Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Unwanted offers a gripping and emotionally rich portrayal of a family forced to make impossible choices in the face of war, displacement, and survival. With sharp insight and deeply human characters, Boris Fishman confronts the moral and emotional costs of fleeing oppression while asking what we owe to those we love—and to ourselves—when the world turns hostile. It’s not just a refugee story; it’s a powerful exploration of trust, betrayal, and resilience that feels both timeless and urgently relevant. Make no mistake this a tough read and you will go through all of the emotions, but I think it is worth the time spent to read it.

[Larry Fontenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tense book even though there is not a lot of action. What events that do occur cast a melancholy and depressing view of the consequences of political choices. The actions of the father force the family to move and the trek is harrowing with both physical and mental abuse. The young daughter Dina, eight years old at the beginning of the tale, experiences the half-truths of families under stress. In the later sections, we see her as a young woman coming to grips with what has happened to her family. This is a fine book well-written and close to the reality of refugees.

[Meghan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This morally complex novel plunges the reader into the depths of the human soul. Under the totalitarian regime and in the refugee camp, every character (even the child) faces morally complex decisions where protection and violence are intertwined. The immersive world led me to imagine what I might do in each situation and to be understanding of those who make difference choices. This book will leave me thinking for a long time. Thanks for the giveaway!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Riverhead for the opportunity to read.

Life altering depiction of civil war, refugees, and the terrible choices and costs. This book is for immersion and not casual reading. Worth reading more than once.

[Sue May · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was definitely well written and very descriptive. But was sad and depressing and took me a long time to get into and start reading more than a few pages at a time. Not sure about recommendations.

[Donna Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a great book but not having numerical chapters just distracted, discombobulated and kept from staying connected to story.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, but seemed to drag in a few spots.

[Maria Lopez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading. This book made little to no sense. The author's narcissism and Zionism centered narrative in the midst of the war in Gaza is very apparent and offensive.

[Megan Gery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warning: SA.

Harrowing but somehow tender. The ending is beautiful and heartbreaking in equal measure.

[Courtney Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fear I did not understand half of it.

[Tricia Fjerestad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but difficult to follow.

[Suzanne Gilchrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling but confusing in places. This book makes real the experience of refugees fleeing an unsafe nation and the impossible choices required to survive.

[Tatyana]

“The Unwanted”is a tense, emotional and stunning story of what the most powerless among us will do for dignity and safety, but the book ultimately falls short due to its sluggish pacing and underdeveloped characters.