The Long Road from Kandahar

The hand of friendship can span a thousand miles…

Pakistan
Among the almond orchards of the Swat Valley, Zamir tends goats with his son, Raza. He must make a heartbreaking decision if he is to protect his youngest child from the Taliban.

Afghanistan
On a military base in Lashkar Gah, Ben lives on edge, wondering if his family will be the next to receive life-changing news from the front line.

Cornwall
And in a ramshackle house on the Cornish coast, Ben’s mother Delphi, an artist, offers a refuge to her grandson Finn, as he retreats from the changes he senses in his family.

When Raza and Finn, two boys from impossibly different worlds, meet, they are united by their loneliness. But will their unexpected bond be enough to save not just each other, but also their families, just as all their lives are about to change forever?

‘At once heartbreaking and uplifting, and its focus on the themes of war and loss, love and friendship across cultures is both topical and timeless: a powerful story from a writer operating at the height of her powers’ JANE JOHNSON, The Tenth Gift

‘Interweave[ing] the devastation exacted by war on the lives of two boys… [this] blistering story shows how no one is remote, connecting rural Cornwall with the Swat Valley of Pakistan’ GEORGIA KAUFMANN, The Dressmaker of Paris

‘Sara MacDonald writes with a lyrical quality that captivated me from the start’ AMANDA JENNINGS, The Storm

• A moving story of friendship between two boys, moving from Pakistan’s Swat Valley to the Cornish coast
• Perfect for reading groups, shining a light into Pakistan’s rural community – and into a father wrestling with the choices that are best for his young son
• Sara MacDonald lived in Pakistan for a year and travelled extensively before settling in Cornwall, where she now lives
• Her previous novels Sea Music and Another Life have attracted critical acclaim and been Kindle bestsellers

Competition: The;a;where the crawdads sing;dressmaker’s gift;last beekeeper;beekeeper of aleppo;daughters of war;nightingale;woman in the white kimono;american dirt. Santa Montefiore;Rosanna Ley;Dinah Jefferies;Heather Morris; Victoria Hislop;Erica James;Lucinda Riley;Fiona Valpy;christy lefteri;jeanine cummins