Living with people who differ - racially, ethnically, religiously or economically - is one of the most urgent challenges facing civil society. This book argues that co-operation needs more than good will: it is a craft that requires skill. It explores the nature of co-operation, why it has become weak and how it can be strengthened.

Every Thursday morning in a living room in Iran, over tea and pastries, the author and other women meet in secret to discuss forbidden works of Western literature. This book tells how they lose themselves in the worlds of Lolita, and share their own stories, dreams with each other, and, for a few hours, taste freedom.