Saffie

On 22 May 2017, a bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of young fans leaving an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds more were injured.

Saffie-Rose Roussos, aged eight, was the youngest victim to die in the attack. She had been at the concert with her mother, Lisa, and her elder sister, Ashlee.

While Ashlee’s injuries were not life-threatening, Lisa was so badly hurt doctors gave her a fifteen per cent chance of survival and a ninety per cent chance of being paralysed from the neck down if she did survive. Lisa would spend six weeks in a coma and only learned Saffie was gone when she regained consciousness.

As the bomb went off, Saffie’s father Andrew was outside waiting to pick up Lisa, Ashlee and Saffie, with his son Xander. He heard the explosion and embarked on a desperate, terrifying search for his wife and daughters through a city that was now more like a war zone.

Saffie is Andrew and Lisa’s story, one of unimaginable suffering and heartbreak as the family faced down a nightmare but also a story of inspiration, courage and optimism, as they search for happiness and meaning in their lives, whilst fighting MI5 to reveal what they knew about the bomber.

Most of all, though, this is a story of love, for each other and for Saffie, and how she was their guiding light in the very worst of times.

’A highly personal journey of an exceptional family as they navigate devastating loss. Saffie is as harrowing a read as you’d expect, but ultimately uplifting and affirmative in its humanity . . . an absolutely compelling combination. Once you start, you simply can’t stop reading’ Janice Hallett