East of Coker - Softcover

Owen, Andy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0692653899 ISBN 13: 9780692653890

Publisher: War Writers' Campaign, Inc., 2016

Synopsis

'The lives of Arthur, a wounded veteran of an old war, the love he left behind, an injured veteran of a new war and an Iraqi family in Basra, become intertwined as they all try in different ways to cope with the uncertainty the conflicts they have been exposed to has created. As their stories eventually collide in a hospital in London, while riots outside get closer each night, Arthur tries to free himself from the anchors of the past and ensure his new friend does not suffer like he has. As Arthur learns how to accept his fate he realises there is one more fight he must fight. He must reach the woman who has been waiting for him to return, for all these years, before time runs out. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a family try to cope with the consequences of a modern war fought on ancient soil by unwelcome intruders, threatening their way of life and traditions.

East of Coker moves through a London and an Iraq that shadows TS Eliot’s Waste Land, asking what duty do those left behind have to those that would otherwise be forgotten and, how through acceptance of what we have done, who we are, and where we are all inevitably heading to, what happiness can be found.'

‘This is an ambitious and thoughtful book, valuable both for itself and its charitable links. It weaves stories of loss and war around a structure of T.S. Eliot’s the Waste Land and speaks for, as well as supports, some of those for whom speech is difficult yet necessary in the wake of past trauma.’ Gay Watson, A Philosophy of Emptiness.

"Owen's fiction achieves what Roy Scranton laments ismissing from our popular trauma-hero stories of Iraq... Scranton admonishesreaders who want war stories that soothe our troubled conscience and obscure"the connection between American audiences and the millions of Iraqi livesdestroyed or shattered since 2003." Owen's East of Coker delivers the missingpiece." Layla Goushey, TransnationalLiteracies

"This outstanding novel is an examination of what defines us as people."
Dandelions Inspired

"He writes with a knowledge of war and the military sovividly, at times the reader is right next to him, experiencing the sameevents. And he writes with a quiet beauty that is often simply stunning."
GlynnYoung, Tweetspeak

About this title

About the Author

Andy Owen served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army reaching the rank of Captain. He completed operational tours in Northern Ireland (2003), Iraq (2004 and 2005) and on intelligence duties in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2007. East of Coker is his second novel following Invective (2014). He now lives in London, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: War Writers' Campaign, Inc.
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0692653899
• ISBN 13: 9780692653890
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 148