Joanne Leedom-Ackerman Discusses Her Book Burning Distance

Join Joanne Leedom-Ackerman as she discusses her book, Burning Distance, during an in person event on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at 6:30 pm.

*The first 50 people who attend will receive a free copy of Joanne's book!

We want to celebrate Joanne Leedom-Ackerman and her book, Burning Distance, with an in-person event, Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at 6:30 pm. The book is available now. We look forward to seeing you at this free event.

Synopsis:

A modern-day Romeo and Juliet—set against the backdrop of deadly weapons smuggling

When ten-year-old Elizabeth West’s father dies in a tragic plane crash over the Persian Gulf, her family uproots their life in Washington, D.C., and moves to London. Her mother marries a knighted British businessman who has two children, and Elizabeth (Lizzy) and her two sisters move in with their new family. At age sixteen, while attending the American School of London, Lizzy meets and falls in love with Adil Hasan—but when Adil’s father, a noted arms middleman, is deported, Lizzy and Adil are separated. Lizzy’s family has also become involved with French-German industrialist Gerald Rene Wagner. Little does she know that Adil’s family has ties to the man, as well. When a member of her family is murdered in Berlin under mysterious circumstances, questions surface about Wagner’s dealings, and Lizzy reexamines what really may have happened to her father. All the while, she endeavors to reunite with her lost love, Adil, and reclaim the connection that was ripped away.

Set in the years before and after the first Gulf War, Burning Distance is a journey through family secrets and competing loyalties, contemporary history, and the dark world of arms trafficking.

Jane Austen meets John le Carré in this cross-cultural love story and political thriller

Author Bio:

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist whose works of fiction include the recent novel Burning Distance and upcoming novel The Far Side of the Desert, along with regional bestseller The Dark Path to the River and No Marble Angels. Her recent nonfiction book, PEN Journeys: Memoir of Literature on the Line, drew inspiration from her job as a Vice President of the worldwide writers and human rights organization PEN International. She also serves on the boards of the American Writers Museum, the International Center for Journalists, Words Without Borders, and Refugees International. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Texas Institute of Letters.