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2000s: How well do you really know those closest to you?
The Black Path
What you need to know before your trail
Helen has been looking for a hero all her life – her dad was a hero but he died when she was ten. Her husband is a hero – but he’s helping to fight a war people say will never be won. Owen is miles away from her but she sometimes wonders if the real danger zone isn’t closer to home. She reads about violent incidents in the papers and sees them on the news. She is sure something bad is just around the corner. One night she ends up in a fight and gets rescued by a woman named Sian.
Sian is everything Helen isn’t – confident, glamorous, fearless. But there’s something else about her – a connection that cements their friendship and makes Helen question everything she’s ever known. And when her husband returns home, it’s not just him who has altered in some way
As bitter truths are uncovered, Helen must finally face her fears and the one place which has haunted her since childhood – the Black Path.
Locations
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Bridgend
Helen has an amazingly sad back story, the novel opening with a news story detailing the murder of her father on a dark and dangerous footpath in her home town of Bridgend, know locally as ‘the black path’. Renowned as bring the hangout of drug users, gangs and all manner of bad people, Helen has always been scared of the path, trusting her parents warnings not to go there. Her father’s murder only cements this angst.
Afghanistan
There is another angle to the story set in Afghanistan too. It is one that perhaps isn’t overly common, one that perhaps isn’t talked about, but which may in truth happen more than people willingly admit. The issue of homosexuals in the Army is one which is often talked about still, depressing as that idea is. Owen returns from Afghanistan (where he has been stationed at Camp Bastion), injured by an IED whilst out on patrol. The events of that day change things forever in Owen and Helen’s lives, but also act as a catalyst for what is to come.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Black Path
Author/Guide: Paul Burston Destination: Bridgend, Afghanistan Departure Time: 2000s
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