(3 customer reviews)
Publication Date: 28 Mar 2024
Categories: Contemporary
ISBN: 9781916668300When traumatised aid worker John Cousins arrives in north-east Africa he hopes to find a sense of personal 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? And what is the secret of her own past?
Cold Coffee in Asmara is a story of personal loss, redemption and love set against a backdrop of humanitarian work in a remote corner of the world where African, Arab and European influences collide.
Andrew Goss is a former print journalist, overseas aid worker and humanitarian reporter. His work has led him to travel across Europe, Africa and South Asia. His new novel, Cold Coffee in Asmara, is set in Eritrea, north-east Africa, following its protracted war with Ethiopia and is the second in a planned trilogy focusing on some of the world’s poorest communities. He lives in Leicester with his partner Claire, a nurse and former aid worker.
Andrew Goss - 09 Jan, 2024
“A beautifully written novel with a flow of words and themes to fill the mind. It's a story of love and redemption in a hostile environment. It is one which reading groups will enjoy and those of an enquiring mind will find much satisfaction in its chapters. It leaves me feeling educated and privileged to have been with such stoic and resourceful people on their journey.”
Miller Caldwell, Novelist and humanitarian, Dumfries, Scotland
Nic Street, - 12 Dec, 2023
Andy Goss, as an experienced humanitarian worker and writer, gives the reader a striking and intimate in-depth account of the post-war scenario in a troubled corner of north-east Africa. His great ability to tell the story in such depth allows the reader to become a full participant in the action there. The graphic detail of the unfolding events in Eritrea gives a truly tangible feel to how overseas humanitarian aid workers approach their mission of service in response to human suffering and catastrophic events.
This fascinating story highlights the call to personal action and how tangible change can be achieved in the most isolated, insecure and often fearful 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 totally unrecognised and unheard.
Nic Street,
Humanitarian and international aid worker, Leicester, UK
Andrew Goss - 19 Oct, 2023
“Cold Coffee in Asmara is a compelling narrative; a gripping, well-researched account of an oppressive regime, reflecting the angst of the people and weariness of spirit in search of a better life. An informative novel reflecting the author’s lived experience and visual style of storytelling.”
Nageen Hyat,
Rights and social activist, film maker
and founder Director of the Nomad Gallery,
Islamabad, Pakistan