Everything Worth Counting

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>A coming-of-age story about a boy caught between countries. From the quiet villages of rural Romania to the dream of a new life in Barcelona this is a story of displacement adaptation and growing up.</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>Alex is ten years old when the Vrancea earthquake reduces his home to rubble taking with it his father and his best friend. Suddenly it is only him and his mother Eva left in the ruins.</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>With Ceaușescu tightening his grip on a fearful nation they take refuge at his grandparents' home in the countryside. Alex struggles to adapt to rural life while Eva in the midst of uncertainty about their future is secretly plotting their escape.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>When he least expects it Alex finds himself hiding in a boat's storage room his knees clenched to his chest sobbing and hoping that nobody can hear his beating heart. He begins counting: twenty-one twenty-two ...</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>For readers who want to be carried back to childhood memories dive into different cultures and traditions. For lovers of Colm Tóibín and Kazuo Ishiguro</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)> </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>books</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)> </span><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1); background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>with a pinch of romance and the gentle irony of a boy struggling to find himself.</strong></p>