(www.palmerphotography.co.uk)

Leo Vardiashvili is the author of the brand new novel Hard by a Great Forest. His debut novel, it is set in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Vardiashvili takes us to Georgia through a character named Saba, who escaped the Civil War in the 1990s and fled to London. Now in his twenties, he returns to search for his father and brother, who have both disappeared.

Saba's journey takes us through big swaths of Georgia, where we hear how the war affected so many, leaving soil soaked in blood. It's dark, but there is light, and there is love, and there is hope.

Much of this narrative is based on Leo's own life. He fled Tbilisi, Georgia, when he was 13 and sought asylum in London. It took him more than 15 years to return to Georgia. When he did, he realized the pain of returning to a country you can no longer recognize, and the invisible private toll that all wars take on those fortunate enough to survive them.

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