∎ Download Refuge Volume 1 N G Osborne 9780615695402 Books

Refuge Volume 1 N G Osborne 9780615695402 Books

Download As PDF : Refuge Volume 1 N G Osborne 9780615695402 Books

Refuge Volume 1 N G Osborne 9780615695402 Books

Book 1, in the Refuge Trilogy

Refuge” is a touching, timeless and unforgettable love story set in the mystical and seething city of Peshawar, Pakistan. This story was inspired from experiences working as a young aid worker teaching school in an Afghan refugee camp and the author’s words truly shines throughout this wonderful book. Although a fiction this novel seems quite real.

This brilliantly romantic drama showcases a world where the right to love is lethal and freedom for women is non-existent. The author’s superbly evokes the atmosphere and intrigues of a city where everyone has their own agenda. This story is more than entertainment, reading between the lines I couldn't help but to reflect on what is important in life. How different conservative Islamic world is to ours. This world is such a dangerous place where nearly every man carries guns, where a war rages nearby and where nearly every woman hides behind burqas. If we think women have a hard time you be surprised to read men have an even worse one.

“Refuge” is the perfect title. In the story the main character Charlie provides a refuge for the Khan family, a place in his home where they can feel safe. That is where Charlie and Noor Khan share their emotions and be honest with each other. So this classic love story takes us on a perilous journey through Pakistan and Afghanistan…..

“Refuge” has a riveting and well-developed scenario. Its pacing is brisk, full of nerve racking action and populated with wonderful multidimensional characters. If you can surmount the idea that this novel is riddle with old clichés and being hung dry at the end (cheap ploy) you should enjoy this page turner. I am looking forward to“ Resilience” its sequel.


Tags : Refuge (Volume 1) [N. G. Osborne] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On a dusty, sweltering night, Noor Khan, a beautiful, headstrong Afghan refugee, comes face-to-face with Charlie Matthews,N. G. Osborne,Refuge (Volume 1),Cranham & Keith Books,061569540X,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Literary,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Refuge Volume 1 N G Osborne 9780615695402 Books Reviews

It was interesting reading about the culture and the work of the different agencies. I will admit that the reputations of some of those agencies suffered some black eyes in this book, however. The love story was a bit overdone for me, but I don't read them often. Others will likely enjoy that piece.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the story, and learning more about the culture of Pakistan and Afghanistan, I guess I should have read more of the reviews because I was completely taken aback when the story stopped dead in the middle and said The End of Book One. This is all fine and good for bestsellers because you know they will be heavily marketed when the sequel comes out so you will be sure not to miss it, but how about little books like this one...I really don't think I would have read it until the sequel was sold along side the first book, or the whole trilogy was sold together, whatever the author has planned. I finished the book this evening and can't stop thinking about the characters, and it really bothers me that I may never find out what happens to them, kind of like reading a newspaper article then never finding out what happens. They were that real to me.
This book was hard to put down. I found myself running just about every gamut of emotion from anger to joy as I was reading it, sometimes staying up reading into the night far later than I should have. I liked this book because not only was it different as far as subject matter from other previous reads but I learned a little about the cultures in middle eastern countries and, in particular, views and opinions about women and how they are treated. There were so many times I wanted to yell out how unfair and cruel toward women this culture really is....how could any person treat women the way these men did?? I kept thinking how would I react if faced with the situations and circumstances that the main character faced in this book. How heartbreaking for her to lose her mother and father in the way she lost them. Not to mention the obstacles placed in her path as she simply wanted to be free and judged for her intelligence...not controlled by her beauty or just simply because she was a woman. This is an excellent choice for anyone to read...Looking forward to Book 2.
This book was a complicated one for me, because I really liked the overall story, but I still had some issues with it that definitely got in the way of the reading experience. The plot follows three main characters Charlie, an American who has moved to Peshawar, Pakistan to work for a company called Mine Aware that hopes to demine villages and fields in Afghanistan; Noor, an Afghan refugee who teaches at a girl's school and hopes to get a scholarship to study abroad; and Tariq, Noor's older brother and a member of the mujadhideen, who were people fighting to free Afghanistan from Soviet/Russian control during the Cold War and its aftermath. These three are supported by characters such as Noor's father, Charlie's assistant, an American CIA operative, and a Dutch administrator hoping to climb the "aid" career ladder. There are two major plots at play one revolves around Charlie and Noor and their relationship (or lack thereof) and the other revolves around Tariq, who promises a Saudi prince that he can marry Noor, only to find that she had fled his grasp, at which point he begins to hunt her down to fulfill his promise and advance his own interests. I thought the plots worked together wonderfully, and I really loved Noor's reluctance to be interested in Charlie, because she wants a life of her own, not to be rescued by someone. She seeks shelter with him reluctantly, and their relationship has what seems like a natural growth from conflict to affection, and Noor shelters some very real doubts about it the whole time, which I can't imagine any woman in her position wouldn't shelter. As for Charlie, he grows immensely during his time in Peshawar and Afghanistan, both professionally and personally, and I thought it was handled very well--though I did have to wonder where he was getting all the money (stacks of hundred dollar bills) that he was throwing around!

Also, I loved how this book treated the use of the burqa. While burqas are commonly seen as a sign of repression here in the US, Osborne used them fabulously in his story telling. While, for some women in his narrative, burqas are a symbol of oppression and the control of women by men, for others they represent safety. When Noor is hiding from her brother, she adopts wearing a burqa in the streets and is amazed at how invisible it makes her and how it enables her to go about her life without harassment, and consequently she doesn't revile it--and Noor is a huge believer of equality between men and women. I think allowing such a strong, feminist character to find safety in the use of a burqa (that she adopted via her own choice, not someone else's, albeit not for religious reasons) was a great choice on Osborne's part.

But, like I said, I still had some issues with the book.

First, it needs a good line editor. There are tons of places with misplaced (or, more frequently, missing) commas. Now, I am a huge fan of the comma, and am probably prone to overusing them, but there were definitely places were a comma was grammatically necessary and was missing. Also prevalent were a slew of instances in which a question mark should have been replaced with a period and vice versa, because the punctuation used did not actually match the sentence it was attached to. Also, there were several long stretches of dialogue with no tags such as "said" used, which normally wouldn't be an issue...except Osborne starts new paragraphs rather arbitrarily, so sometimes keeping track of who was talking was difficult because I wasn't sure if the speaker had actually changed or if it was just a new paragraph with the same speaker.

Second, I had an issue with the characterization of Elma. I can't say too much about this without spoilers, but while Elma is originally made out to be a career woman who will sleep her way to the top if necessary, the majority of the narrative built up her softer side. She was definitely determined to advance herself, but she was still a real thinking, feeling person. I felt like this all changed at the end of the book, and was truly appalled at how easily she lost that humanity.

And, third and last, I don't think this needed to be a series. I think some of the subplots could probably have been cut out, and the narrative streamlined a bit more in order to allow it to become one book instead of multiples. I might pick up the next one (I'm not entirely sure how many there are, honestly) but I'm not sure at this point. If I do, I hope that it's better structured and edited than this first volume. However, overall I think the story was a solid one, and I would recommend this to anyone with the patience to wade through its flaws for the gem at their center.

3 out of 5 stars.
Book 1, in the Refuge Trilogy

Refuge” is a touching, timeless and unforgettable love story set in the mystical and seething city of Peshawar, Pakistan. This story was inspired from experiences working as a young aid worker teaching school in an Afghan refugee camp and the author’s words truly shines throughout this wonderful book. Although a fiction this novel seems quite real.

This brilliantly romantic drama showcases a world where the right to love is lethal and freedom for women is non-existent. The author’s superbly evokes the atmosphere and intrigues of a city where everyone has their own agenda. This story is more than entertainment, reading between the lines I couldn't help but to reflect on what is important in life. How different conservative Islamic world is to ours. This world is such a dangerous place where nearly every man carries guns, where a war rages nearby and where nearly every woman hides behind burqas. If we think women have a hard time you be surprised to read men have an even worse one.

“Refuge” is the perfect title. In the story the main character Charlie provides a refuge for the Khan family, a place in his home where they can feel safe. That is where Charlie and Noor Khan share their emotions and be honest with each other. So this classic love story takes us on a perilous journey through Pakistan and Afghanistan…..

“Refuge” has a riveting and well-developed scenario. Its pacing is brisk, full of nerve racking action and populated with wonderful multidimensional characters. If you can surmount the idea that this novel is riddle with old clichés and being hung dry at the end (cheap ploy) you should enjoy this page turner. I am looking forward to“ Resilience” its sequel.