<div>After years studying Arabic, Zora O'Neill faced an increasing certainty that she was not only failing to master it but also driving herself crazy. So she stepped away. But, a decade later, she still couldn't shake her fascination and returned to Arabic, this time with a new approach.<br><br>O’Neill embarks on a grand tour through the Middle East—to Egypt, the UAE, Lebanon, and Morocco—packing her dictionaries, her unsinkable sense of humor, and her talent for making fast friends of strangers.&nbsp;She travels along quiet, bougainvillea-lined streets and amid the lively buzz of crowded cities and medinas. She jumps off the tourist track, into families’ homes and local hotspots, and makes a part of the world that is thousands of miles away seem right next door. &nbsp;<br><br>With lively prose and an eye for the deeply absurd and the deeply human, O’Neill explores the indelible links between culture and communication.<i>All Strangers Are Kin</i> is a powerful testament to the dynamism of language and how learning another tongue leaves you rich with so much more than words.</div>