A bold, dark, romantic debut set in war-torn 1990s Croatia, for fans of Victoria Hislop and Louis de Bernieres.

Yugoslavia, summer 1979. A new village. A new life. But nine-year-old Miro knows the real reason why his family moved from the inland city of Knin to the sunkissed village of Ljeta on the Dalmatian Coast, a tragedy he tries desperately to forget.

The Ljeta years are happy ones, though, and when he marries his childhood sweetheart, Dina, and they have a baby daughter, it seems as though life is perfect. However, storm clouds are gathering above Yugoslavia.

War breaks out, and one split-second decision destroys the life Miro has managed to build. Driven by anger and grief, he flees to Sarajevo, plunging himself into the hard-bitten world of international war reporters. But the city is a dangerous place, and Miro finds himself cast into a world that will change him, and those he loves, forever.

An important chronicle of one of the most disgraceful conflicts of the late 20th century . . . and quite apart from the history lesson, it's a fascinating read