AustLit

Dedication: To those who taught me to learn from one another, and to love one another by learning to walk in someone else's shoes.
To the memory of my father Antonios, my mother Mona, and my brother Assaad Assaf.

Foreword by Allan Gyngell, Executive Director, Lowy Institute for International Policy

The title of the book is taken from the opening section of the narrative, in which Assaf refers to a condition imposed on migrants setting out for Australia as airline passengers: that they wear new shoes (to comply with quarantine regulations). At the airport in Lebanon, Assaf's shoes are deemed not to be new, and so he has to 'borrow' someone else's shoes in order to travel to Australia.