Naomi Lieberman has flown the nest of her hometown in Liverpool to seek the bright lights of London. Despite having aspirations and a degree in forensic science, Naomi finds herself working as a sales assistant at a sex shop in Soho. This is just one of many shameful secrets she has to hide from her Orthodox Jewish family and childhood sweetheart, Ephraim. Facing up to the disappointing realities of her life Naomi is desperate to find meaning and purpose. On a whim she signs up as a volunteer at a local refugee centre where her path soon crosses with that of John Paul Chambers.
John Paul is head of English at a private college and the manager of the refugee centre. He is arrogant, aloof, and still trying to free himself from the emotional curse of the genocide in Rwanda that orphaned him twenty years earlier. When John Paul interviews the centre’s latest flighty volunteer, neither he nor Naomi has the slightest idea that their lives are about to change forever.
Wendy Skorupski’s debut novel is an unlikely and uplifting love story exploring the depths of human experience and the life-changing moment when two paths cross.
This book is just beautifully written, it covers some atrocities yet has parts that are simply beautiful at the same time. The descriptions of Rwanda were brilliantly written and enhanced to book so much.
The book had me gripped from the beginning as you knew that you would be finding out what had happened to the boy that we meet in the opening scenes. I loved our main character Naomi, her 'ditziness' and personality just made me smile even though I was only reading about her and haven't met her!
When she came upon John Paul during her application for volunteering I knew that we had found the man that used to be the boy. However, I was not expecting his story that unfolded throughout the book.
I thought that it was really well written in that Naomi was creating stories about the home land of the refugees that were supported by the centre. These stories fit in really well as the main storyline developed.
Huge Thanks To Random Things Tours & Wendy Skorupski for allowing me to take part in the blog tour in exchange for a free honest review.
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