THE BOY WHO COULD SWIM
The novel is a work of literary fiction based on interviews with refugees en route to Europe and coupled with my personal experiences of warlords battling in Afghanistan, having been detained in Iran, witnessing police violence in Greece, and meeting some of the countless displaced persons who remain resilient in their search for a better life far and away from their homes in Afghanistan and in the heart of a Europe.
There are almost 120 million forcibly displaced people in the world. Forty percent are children. Every year thousands die on the Mediterranean Sea. The staggering figures constantly erase records on a scale never seen before. These figures are not fiction.
Behind each one of them is a story of loss and hope, despair and resilience. The novel The Boy Who Could Swim is one of these stories. I travelled to Iran, Turkey, Greece, and France and have worked in Afghanistan where I spoke with refugees and collected their stories. I learned about their dreams, their sufferings, their comradery, and loneliness. They told me who they used to be, why they had to leave, what happened to them on their journey, and who they had become when they arrived. The Boy Who Could Swim is their story told through the boy Yakup, who comes of age when he is forced to leave the people he loves and the place he calls home - Afghanistan. On his long journey to Europe, he is faced with numerous challenges that he has no choice but to overcome.
Four separate parts in the novel take the reader on a journey through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe in a search for the promised land. A journey that millions attempt every year and not all with equal success.
See the photo gallery of refugees for more on the topic.
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For more information on me and the book, contact my publisher Pegasus