Steil and their daughter Theadora Celeste were evacuated to Jordan, where they lived for four months while Torlot finished his posting. The family then moved to London, where Steil continued writing her second book, a novel, and worked as a freelance journalist. While there, her work included a long piece on Yemen for the "World Policy Journal", a Yemen piece for the German paper "Die Welt", and stories on Kate &amp; Will’s royal wedding, London’s 9/11 monument, and British politics for the "Washington Times".