Drifts

Natasha Burge was born and grew up in Saudi Arabia, where her family lived for more than half a century. Through various departures and returns - a year at boarding school in New England, university in London, a small town in Texas where there are more cows than people, back to work in Bahrain - the years of difficulty, isolation and severe anxiety take their toll. Finally, at 37 years old she received the life-changing news that she is autistic. In this striking exploration of identity and place, Burge probes these intertwined strands of her being: what it means to grow up at the interstices of different cultures, and what it is to experience unrecognised neurodivergence and a late diagnosis of autism. From the cosmopolitan heritage of Muharraq's Pearling Path to the jebels of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, Burge charts a new course through the stories of the Arabian Gulf and the myths surrounding autism. The result is a work of dazzling insight, sensitivity and awareness.