Lawrence Osborne's ‘Beautiful Animals’ involves Syrian refugee

CAIRO – 18 August 2017: Those interested in a compelling English fiction novel involving the refugee crisis in Europe should look for author Lawrence Osborne's newest thriller, 'Beautiful Animals.'

Released this summer in July, the novel has received critical acclaim from reviewers such as The New York Times and the National.

The basic plotline is set in Greece's island of Hydra, where two Greek girls encounter a Syrian migrant who washes up on the shore. Named Faoud, the refugee is an intelligent, educated young man, fluent in English, Arabic and French, but with nothing left to go back to. The two women, Naomi and Samantha, offer Faoud help, which he cannot refuse, as he realizes he has no other options. This spirals him down a dark path of crime and even murder.

Osborne mentions that while the novel does involve a Syrian refugee, it isn't exactly 'about' the refugee crisis.

“I planned to write about the Greek crisis,” he tells the National, “On some Greek islands the shops are empty, but on wealthy Hydra they are all full. So there is this schizophrenia inside the Greek world, which really interested me. I also wanted to write a book about parricide and two girls. But once I set it on Hydra I thought it would be foolish to ignore what’s going on there.”

While ‘Beautiful Animals’ might not be directly about the ongoing migrant crisis, it does capture what is most important; the Syrian victims abandoned by the ongoing wars at home, left with nothing both from their pasts and in the future.

Author Osborne is a well-traveled man who has been around the world from London to Istanbul. His novels incorporate both a keen sense of place and people, and he focuses on the complex inner lives of the characters; their motivations, struggles and purposes all lay bare. His extensive love of travel ensures he must visit a place extensively to truly write about it, providing a captivating authenticity to his fiction.