I received an advanced reading copy of In The Orchards, The Swallows by Peter Hobbs.

I was ready to discard the book but decided to read the first few pages. I think it’s a keeper. Here’s the description from the publisher, House of Anansi.

“In the foothills of a mountain range in northern Pakistan is a beautiful orchard. Swallows wheel and dive silently over the branches and the scene 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 mile 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.”