Andrew Goss

Conflict and natural disaster bring out the best... and the worst. But there is hope


Cold Coffee in Asmara     a novel

The women gathered that morning at the solitary thatched hut in the desert were painted in silhouette against the low sun which still glowed orange over the arid terrain. Most carried small children concealed under loose white shawls, to protect them against the heat and the dust that would rise in intensity with

each advancing hour. Many had trekked several hours in

darkness from their scattered settlements across the silent,

barren landscape in the simple hope of ensuring their children might receive basic medical care. There they waited, their brown faces and hands brought into sharp contrast by the brightness of their white cotton garments upon which the first breaking light reflected its brilliance. They were the nomadic people of the plains which swept from the highlands towards the Sudanese border....

"Andy Goss, as an experienced humanitarian worker and writer, gives the reader a striking and intimate account of the post-war scenario in a troubled corner of north-east Africa. This fascinating story highlights the call to personal action and how tangible change can be achieved in the most isolated and  insecure communities in which humanitarian workers operate, sometimes at great personal risk – and gives a voice to the vulnerable and the disempowered, who so often go  unheard."

Nic Street, International aid worker

'In the midst of suffering there

is a sweetness in life'


The Humanitarian

 

 a story of courage and compassion

The earthquake came without warning that Saturday morning.

It struck the mountains of northern Pakistan at 8.52am on

October 8, 2005, during the holy month of Ramadan.

Villages were shaken from their footings, spilling into the

yawning valleys below, or were buried by landslide as entire slopes dislodged and slipped from the mountainside.

In less than 30 seconds the fragile infrastructure of Pakistan's north-western Himalayan communities had been destroyed. 

What followed was an extroardinary story of courage,

compassion and political intrigue as the national, and

international aid community mobilised in a desperate race

against time to save the millions of people affected by the devastating disaster...

If you would like to
back-order a copy of
The Humanitarian please do get in touch with the author direct

"For most people, mercifully, natural disasters are things that happen on the telly, to other people. The Humanitarian takes
you 'there' - to a place where ordinary people are left to fathom the unfathomable.

"Goss's intimate interweaving of fact and
fiction around the 2005 Kashmir earthquake disaster takes readers to places they will never forget and, God-willing, they
will never have to go."

Peter Foster, Financial Times

'Even if just one person's life is changed
for the better,
then it is all worthwhile'

Cold Coffee in Asmara and The Humanitarian powerful contemporary novels by Andrew Goss

Overview

 

What's the new novel about?

When traumatised aid worker John Cousins arrives in north-east Africa he hopes to find a sense of peace among a gentle people rebuilding their lives following a bitter and prolonged war.


In Eritrea he begins to forget his own emotional pain and lay to rest the ghosts of his previous mission in Pakistan. Will the work with fellow aid worker and nurse Hannah Johnson help heal the scars of his own grief? And what is the secret of her own past?


Across the desert plains bordering the Sudan to the stifling humidity of the Red Sea coastline, the rocky highland uplands of the mountains to the minefields of the Ethiopian border regions, both aid workers begin a remarkable journey of self-discovery among a people struggling to survive against the weight of poverty and disease. It is here that they begin to discover a new meaning in life.


Cold Coffee in Asmara is an uplifting story of loss and redemption in a remote part of the world where Arab, African and European influences collide. Though it spotlights challenging humanitarian issues it is essentially a story of hope.


The novel is the second in the author’s trilogy focusing on the trials and triumphs of those less fortunate in under-reported corners of the globe, who live their lives in the face of overwhelming odds, and where the lines between life and death are often finely drawn.

Who is the author?

Andrew Goss is a journalist, writer and humanitarian reporter.

His work has led him to travel extensively and for several years

he lived in Pakistan, where he supported the aid and

development sector.

He is a passionate advocate of education for the world’s

poorest, and specifically girls and young women.

Andrew lives in Leicester, in the heart of England, with his partner Claire, a nurse and former aid worker.

His dream is that one day the poorest across the Global South are freed from poverty through 

greater equality of opportunity and fairer distribution of wealth – and that finally we learn to live as one. He hopes one day to return to Pakistan.

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If you would like to back-order The Humanitarian, or

want to know more about what lies behind the novels,

please don't hesitate to drop the author a line.