Warren FitzGerald – författare

A powerful, heart-wrenching story of friendship and love‘This is a story about me, Clementine, and my friends: a panther called Levi, a pelican called Lola and a turtle called Jimmy. It is about dragons and goblins, my Daddy the King, my Mummy the Queen and Prince Pio my brother. At least that is the way I tell it sometimes when thoughts of the blood, the machetes, the swamp and the fear of Uncle Leonard become too hard to describe.But that was all before I met Ashley, wonderful Ashley. Not that he would ever call himself wonderful in a million years. When he tells you his story you will see what I mean…’Ashley Bolt – A middle-aged, loner for whom teaching singing is the only escape from his London life. In an attempt to forget a violent past he turns to self-harming but this provides little comfort.Clementine Habimana – A Rwandan child refugee who witnesses the 1994 genocide at first-hand and lives to tell her story. Delivered into the hands of an abusive uncle in the UK, Clementine remains undeterred in her hope for a brighter future.When their two worlds collide, nothing is ever the same again…

What happens when two worlds collide?This is a story about me, Clementine, and my friends: a panther called Levi, a pelican called Lola and a turtle called Jimmy. It is about dragons and goblins, my Daddy the King, my Mummy the Queen and Prince Pio my brother. At least that is the way I tell it sometimes when thoughts of the blood, the machetes, the swamp and the fear of Uncle Leonard become too hard to describe.But that was all before I met Ashley, wonderful Ashley. Not that he would ever call himself wonderful in a million years. When he tells you his story you will see what I mean…

The crew of the Norland were having a whale of a time in 1982, ferrying passengers between Rotterdam and Hull. Especially the ''girls'' in the catering crew: Wendy, Frankie and Candy, all stewards and all gay men. So when their ferry was requisitioned by the government to transfer 900 paratroopers to Ascension Island for the war in the Falklands, the ''girls'' jumped at the chance to be part of the crew. Shockingly, they were asked to carry on right into the heart of the Falklands, where they were to be the very first ship of the entire Task Force to make a landing. Untrained and unprepared, the crew faced heavy bombardment from the Argentinean air force. Miraculously, the Norland survived intact as many other ships were destroyed around it. And, just as miraculously, the paratroopers eventually looked on their camp catering staff as the heroes of their war. Written with the real-life protagonists, this book relates their incredible experiences in a war they never signed up for, while demonstrating how lasting bonds can be formed between the unlikeliest of people.