From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo and Songbirds comes this new stunning novel.
When a forest fire starts raging in a small Greek village, on an island, the residents hurriedly make their way down to the sea, only seconds before the fire is catching up with them, men , women, children and pets jumping into the sea, to get far away from the roar of the flames. Women and children clutching onto an old beer crate to survive, while the heat from the fires is so immense. Very soon it is left to the survivors to rebuild their lives, their community and their homes, relationships and families. Everything is now changed, people are looking for who to blame. How will they continue with their lives with some family members burnt, missing or dead. This is one families journey showing the resilience of the family, their personal journey and their hopes for the future. They face horrific and terrible times that they must now find the strength to put behind them, swallow the blame and find a way to carry on with their lives.
This is a quotation that I think sums up what happened -
"The earth here it has not been saturated enough and the summer is coming.
It shouldn't be this dry right now and summer is coming. Bone dry, like dead bones not even alive bones."
This book centres on a tremendous forest fire on a Greek island and I think it has made more of an impact on me than all the reports you see on the news channels. It was actually based on a devastating fire on the island of Evia, where they had the worst wildfires in history. I think this story will stay with me for a long time, and you hope that nobody has to go through this journey of courage and also destruction of both the landscape and their lives.
A great, yet heartbreaking 💔 five star read.
When a forest fire starts raging in a small Greek village, on an island, the residents hurriedly make their way down to the sea, only seconds before the fire is catching up with them, men , women, children and pets jumping into the sea, to get far away from the roar of the flames. Women and children clutching onto an old beer crate to survive, while the heat from the fires is so immense. Very soon it is left to the survivors to rebuild their lives, their community and their homes, relationships and families. Everything is now changed, people are looking for who to blame. How will they continue with their lives with some family members burnt, missing or dead. This is one families journey showing the resilience of the family, their personal journey and their hopes for the future. They face horrific and terrible times that they must now find the strength to put behind them, swallow the blame and find a way to carry on with their lives.
This is a quotation that I think sums up what happened -
"The earth here it has not been saturated enough and the summer is coming.
It shouldn't be this dry right now and summer is coming. Bone dry, like dead bones not even alive bones."
This book centres on a tremendous forest fire on a Greek island and I think it has made more of an impact on me than all the reports you see on the news channels. It was actually based on a devastating fire on the island of Evia, where they had the worst wildfires in history. I think this story will stay with me for a long time, and you hope that nobody has to go through this journey of courage and also destruction of both the landscape and their lives.
A great, yet heartbreaking 💔 five star read.