England in the mid-2030s. It’s no longer a good place to grow old, nor is it a good place to be young.
Louise is in her seventies and has travelled for most of her life, but there’s nothing left for her except the careful plans she’s made for one final journey.
Adam is in his mid-twenties with his whole life before him. He’s not from the UK, but his dream of a life there died shortly after arriving on British shores.
Now he wants to go home.
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Their journey begins when this mismatched pair are thrown together.
They have to discover their common humanity and overcome the age gap as well as the wealth of cultural differences which divides them.
My Review
It’s been years since 75-year-old Louise has seen a homeless person on the street. After all, they were all ‘homed’ and settled years back. So seeing one is a shock.
Her comments on immigrants are typical of her generation – are economic migrants taking places from true refugees from war torn countries? She’s not sure, but we need to stop the boats, the traffickers. Many people I know would agree with that. Isn’t it one of the reasons we did Brexit? We’d lost our national identity and wanted our sovereignty back. As a second generation immigrant of Polish/Jewish heritage, it’s never been my view. But my parents were welcomed with open arms and post-war my father became a civil engineer and worked in the UK all his life.
Adam is one of those ‘unwanted’ immigrants. Having arrived from France in an inflatable boat, he is now on the run, trying to find the land of milk and honey he dreamed about. But that land is long gone. He’s not welcome here – immigrants are often beaten up and handed in – a reward being available for those who do so. Now he just wants to go home to North Africa.
Ten years in the future, both political parties have failed miserably to sort out the country, and someone has to be blamed. Far right parties full of rhetoric and empty promises have the answer as far as many are concerned, and they are now in power. But for Louise, she no longer recognises her home, and having lost her husband Mike a few years ago, she decides to sell up and travel across Europe in her old camper van. And that’s when she meets Adam.
Not My Country is part story and part reflection on just how bad society could become if we allow it to happen. France is the same – maybe even worse. We have lost our humanity. We can see it in America. It will certainly make you think, but it’s a very bleak outlook and I hope we never get there.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
PS Please don’t start trolling me about ‘my’ views. These are the views of the characters in the book and don’t reflect my own. I was a staunch remainer and still am.
About the Author
‘A life spent living and working in the multicultural atmosphere of London furnished A. E. Dean with a wealth of material about which to write, once retired and settled in the British Midland/
Not My Country is the first of but hopefully not the last book published in this later-life authorial career.’
A.E’s Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565553996984
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.e.deanauthor/
Book Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218648242-not-my-country
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/notmycountry-zbt
