In the orchard, the swallows - Peter Hobbs

In the foothills of a mountain range in northern Pakistan is a beautiful
orchard. Swallows wheel and dive silently over the branches, and the
scent of jasmine threads through the air. Pomegranates hang heavy, their
skins darkening to a deep crimson. Neglected now, the trees are beginning
to grow wild, their fruit left to spoil on the branches.

Many
miles away, a frail young man is flung out of prison gates. Looking up,
scanning the horizon for swallows in flight, he stumbles and collapses
in the roadside dust. His ravaged body tells the story of fifteen years
of brutality.

Just one image has held and sustained him through the dark times - the thought
of the young girl who had left him dumbstruck with wonder all those
years ago, whose eyes were lit up with life.

A tale of tenderness in the face of great and corrupt power, In The Orchard, The Swallows is a heartbreaking novel written in prose of exquisite stillness and beauty.