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Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

“The Home Is Where Your Heart Breaks”
‘The Home’
by Karen Osman
The Blog Tour

If you are a regular visitor to Fiction Books, you might be forgiven for thinking I have ‘lost the plot’ a little!

But No! – not just yet anyway!

This is indeed the second time this book has featured in a Blog Tour, organized by the lovely Vicky from Aria FictionHead Of Zeus. Originally, back in September 2018 The Home was released as an ebook, however it has now also been released as a paperback edition, for all you lovers of the ‘real’ thing, which has triggered a second promotional tour.

This time I have been allocated an extract from the book to share as my Blog Tour spot, however if you would like to refresh your memory about the lovely Guest Post Karen was kind enough to contribute for the first round of the tour, then you can find it here.

Image of the blog tour banner paperback edition of the book 'The Home' by author Karen Osman

THE HOME

Cover image of the paperback edition of the book 'The Home' by author Karen OsmanAngela was just a baby when her mum left her for the last time, and a children’s home is no place to grow up.

The home’s manager Ray takes the girls off to his ‘den’ in the garden and the littlies come back crying, and Ray’s wife Kath has special wooden spoons which she saves for beating any of the children who dare to misbehave.

So, when wealthy couple James and Rosemary come to choose a child to adopt, Angela is desperate to escape.

But the scars of her childhood remain, and when Angela’s search for her birth mother Evelyn is successful, their reunion is no fairy tale.

Soon strange and sinister events start to unfold, and Evelyn fears she may not survive her daughter’s return…

KAREN OSMAN

Alternative Profile Image Of Author Karen OsmanAs an award-winning author, entrepreneur, luxury travel journalist and editor, Karen has lived the expat life for almost twenty years across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Originally from the United Kingdom, she has built an impressive enterprise combining her two passions: luxury travel and the English language.

Securing a three-book deal with UK-based Head of Zeus publishing house, following her win at the ‘Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Montegrappa Novel Writing Award 2016’, with her crime-thriller novel, The Good Mother, was the icing on the cake.

Karen was also included in 2017’s edition of ‘Ahlan’s Hot 100 People’, an accolade recognising the pioneers and game-changers shaping the UAE’s social and cultural landscape.

She founded niche communications company, ‘Travel Ink’ in 2011, providing content writing and strategy, public relations, social media, training, and translation services to hotels, airlines, and tourism establishments. In her role as Managing Director, she oversaw a team of writers, editors, PR and social media consultants, to deliver quality content for exceptional results. As a testament to its success, ‘Travel Ink’ was shortlisted as a finalist for the ‘SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards’ in two categories (Hospitality & Tourism and Communications), just one year after the company’s inception.

Karen has been recognised for her achievements in the areas of entrepreneurship, luxury travel, and the written word and has featured in various regional and international publications including: Hello!, Stylist, Forbes, The National, Ahlan!, and Gulf News, to name but a few.

She also holds a number of note-worthy positions including: Travel and Tourism Chair Person for the British Business Group, writer and moderator for Arabian Travel Market, and Vice-President of the Kaizen chapter of Business Network International.

Karen lives in Dubai with her husband and two young sons.

Keep up with all the latest news at Karen’s website

Follow Karen on Twitter

Connect with Karen on Facebook

Cover image of the paperback edition of the book 'The Home' by author Karen Osman

BLOG TOUR EXTRACT

PARTIAL EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER THREE

Wednesday 18 June 1969

Dear Diary,

When we got back from school today, a new girl had arrived. Fat Franny said her name was Nelly. She has red hair and a gap between her two front teeth. Fat Franny said I had to look after her and show her how we do the chores. Maureen said it wasn’t fair that I got help with my chores from the new girl. Maureen is always whining. I told her to shut her face and then Fat Franny told us all to belt up otherwise there would be trouble. We knew what that meant so we all shut up and did our chores.

A.

Wednesday 25 June 1969

Dear Diary,

While we cleaned the kitchen, Nelly told me that her last family let her play on a bicycle. I told her she was a liar – no one I know has a bicycle. She said I was just jealous and that they were the nicest foster family she had stayed with. Nelly said two families had fostered her before but they didn’t have any bicycles. I asked her why she was in the home – why didn’t she stay with the bicycle family? She told me that they were coming back to get her soon but she looked sad. To make her feel better, I told her that we didn’t have bicycles, but I would show her the den in the back garden. We had a lot of fun playing hide-and-seek. It’s much better than being indoors and Fat Franny and Nasty Nora are just happy to have us out from under their feet.

A.

Thursday 4 September 1969

Dear Diary,

The summer holidays are over. Nelly has stopped talking about her bicycle family. She has given up thinking they will come back and adopt her. Instead Nelly will come to school with me. We are in Mrs Thistlethwaite’s class but her nickname is Snapper because she has a ruler that she snaps on the desk to get everyone’s attention. Fat Franny took us to lost property at school to get the left-over school uniforms. Nelly is bigger than me and she found a shirt while we both got ties. Fat Franny grumbled that she would have to buy us skirts. Only one each mind, so we mustn’t get them dirty or get holes in them.

A.

Thursday 4 December 1969

Dear Diary,

It’s so cold in bed at night that we have pushed all the beds together in our dorm room and curl up to each other to keep warm. Even Fat Franny felt it because she brought us some more blankets. I sleep next to Nelly but I told Maureen to go and sleep somewhere else. She smells.

A.

Cover image of the paperback edition of the book 'The Home' by author Karen Osman

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Written by
Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

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Written by Yvonne