The People We Were Before

A rattlingly good read, pacily plotted and ambitious in scope’ – Daily Mail

 ‘Tender, truthful, moving and at times painful’ – Sunday Mirror

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

If war is madness, how can love survive?

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, 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 Dubrovnik, plunging himself into the hard-bitten world of international war reporters.

There begins a journey that will take him ever deeper into danger: from Dubrovnik, to Sarajevo, to the worst atrocities of war-torn Bosnia, Miro realises that even if he survives, there can be no way back to his earlier life. The war will change him, and everyone 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’ – Irish Independent on Sunday

‘A moving, powerful tale’ – Daily Express

"I loved the way the author merges the compelling personal stories of this family against the dramatic background of the troubles of Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Miro is strong but flawed - an utterly realistic character - and when he is flung into the war his life is changed forever. How he copes with what he witnesses; with loss, disillusion and guilt, makes for a fascinating story which is told with integrity and authenticity" - Rosanna Ley, bestselling author of The Villa