Disilussiond by her glizy life in London and her desirable but cruel Tv Presenter boyfriend, Rosie Richardson chucks it all in and spends four years running a refugee camp in Africa. Then famine strikes in a nearby province and an influx of starving refugees threatens to overwhelm the camp. Frustrated by the cautious response of aid agencies, Rosie decides on a drastic short term solution. She returns to London, breaks back into the celebrity circuit and brings the celebs out to Africa for a star studded TV emergency appeal.

Found this in a box of books today and will try to read asap

This was left at my house yesterday after a Bookcrossing Lunch.

It is the first novel written in 1994 by Helen Fielding of Bridget Jones fame which surprisingly it appears I never read so I will add to MT TBR.

This is the first novel by Helen Fielding of Bridget Jones fame which she wrote in 1994. Surprisingly I never read until now. It is a satirical story full of both ridiculous and tragic events about what happens when celebrity aid comes to the help of famine relief in Africa. It is this angle that makes this novel more than just another chick lit type novel. It is I read a subject Helen Fielding is interested in and she has worked in producing documentaries for relief for such famines.
The heroine Rosie Richardson is living in London, working in publishing when we first meet her. After a disastrous relationship with Oliver Marchant a minor television celebrity who turns out to be cruel and manipulative she becomes disillusioned with her lifestyle. As a complete life change she heads for Africa to work as a Director of a refugee camp, for a charity. Four years later famine strikes and desperate for funds Rosie decides to use her celebrity acquaintances to raise emergency funds by organising a television appeal from the camp itself.
Towards the end of the novel the descriptions of the human suffering are powerful and disturbing. It is fourteen years since this novel was written and sadly many parts of the world are still suffering in such a way, despite worldwide campaigns to try and reduce such incidents.
I quote from the novel direct as I think it is an excellent reaction of the horrors as viewed by the aid workers and celebrities. ‘It was such a monumental horror that it felt as though nothing should be the same any more, nothing should continue: none of us should speak or do anything, the sun should not be moving across the sky and the wind should not blow. It did not seem possible that such a thing as this could be taking place without the world having to shudder to a halt and think again.’
This might start out seeming like a lightweight novel but it certainly does not leave you feeling that way at the end!

I am planning to RABCK someone with this title on their Wishlist.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

En route to bookwormess in Finland as a RABCK. I hope she will enjoy this and then set it travelling again.

Happy reading

LindyLouMac

Oh my! Thank you so much LindyLouMac for sending me this book as a RABCK! This was such a surprise, waiting for me on my doorstep on a very rainy, dark and mondayish Monday. I've been waiting for this book as a ring but that's stopped somwhere, so I'm really glad I got this book this way. I will put it in my Mt. TBR for now. :)

Doing some Spring cleaning and I think it's time to let go of huge amount of books that have been in my bookshelf for years. Books, that I have picked up many times but yet put them back. Books, that have moved houses quite many times. Books, that represent a genre I've grown out of past years.

Sending the book to mrsmontague for the local book exchange.

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Congratulations, you've found a book I released in the wild. It's yours now - you can keep it, give to someone you now or release it back in the wild. Thank you for letting me know you've found it! If you want, you're welcome to join Bookcrossing.com. :)

Gratefully received from bookwormess for my new book exchange. Many thanks!

Welcome to BookCrossing - the act of releasing and catching books and spreading our love of reading! It's addictive, fun and spam free!
- If you can, please register when and where you found this book. Using the BCID number from the BookCrossing label inside the front cover, log on to the site, then follow the instructions to make a brief journal entry. The person who released the book will be happy to know it's in safe hands!
- You can then read it if you wish. We'd be most grateful if you could leave it somewhere else for someone else to find afterwards.
You don't have to sign up to BookCrossing- your entry will just appear as an 'Anonymous Finder'. If you do join: please consider putting me, mrsmontague, as your referring member. Enjoy!