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The People We Were Before

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The People We Were Before

By: Annabelle Thorpe
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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If war is madness, how can love survive?

Growing up in the borderlands between Croatia and Serbia, Miro's blissful childhood is shattered when his best friend is horribly wounded by a land mine, a legacy of conflicts gone by.

Moving to the Dalmatian coast, where his parents start a small hotel, he thinks he has left this all behind - he falls in love and starts a family with his childhood sweetheart, Dina. But as his country descends into another devastating war, one split-second decision that causes his daughter's death destroys the life he has managed to build.

Rejected by his grieving wife, Miro takes a job as a cameraman with a news channel and is plunged into the hard-bitten, black-humoured world of the international war reporters. He even finds some solace in an affair with Marian, a BBC journalist, but as he feels the war changing him and his loved ones beyond all recognition, he must struggle to keep his relationship, and his soul, intact.

©2016 Annabelle Thorpe (P)2016 WF Howes Ltd
20th Century Europe Historical Historical Fiction Romance War
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I read this book before visiting Dubrovnik. I like to read books set in places I travel to.

Enjoyable book, giving insight into the motivation and background of the main characters on different sides of the war.

I read this fictional account at the same time as reading (listening to) Flags to die for by Tim Marshall (factual book). Between the two books, I got an excellent understanding of the history of what was Yugoslavia. This knowledge helped me make the most of my trip.

I lovely way to learn about Croatia

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I was enthralled with this book, perfectly narrated and so sensitively written. I would have happily had the storyline continue for many more hours.

A heart-rending story not to be missed

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