denise leith

'Before you fall in love, or find a dear friend, you should know: this is the day I will meet someone whose memory will touch my heart and change my world forever. I believe the ability to do this is buried deep within each of us, and if we could find it we could imprint on our minds what the world looked like before so we could take the full measure of what remains.'

What Remains follows the tumultuous life of journalist Kate Price from her first assignment as a naive and idealistic young correspondent in Riyadh in 1991, to Baghdad in 2004, where she can't feel anything unless it cuts her to the bone. We track her through the war zones of the Arabian Peninsula, Palestine, South Africa, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chechnya and Iraq, through harrowing scenes of violence and destruction as she pays the price of bearing witness to unspeakable calamity and cruelty. Yet in the face of that horror, where friendship can be life's currency and love is often fleeting, comfort can be found in the smallest and most tender moments.

On her very first trip into a war zone, Kate meets legendary photographer Pete McDermott, and it is their journey together that lights up the pages of this remarkable novel. From a cynical beginning to grudging respect to something much more precious, their meetings and growing attraction frame the danger and terror of their working lives.

In a world that no longer makes sense, Kate begins to question everything she has ever believed in. The answers, when they come, will finally show her the way - but they cannot protect her from what she both longs for and fears.

What Remains is an epic story of love, war, friendship and ultimately of hope: gripping, confronting and unbearably heartbreaking. It will stay with you forever.

'Modern warfare and the lives of the correspondents who report it are portrayed with unflinching authenticity. This book is unforgettable.' - Rosie Scott, author of Faith Singer

'This is a love story, but it rips into your guts with the awful truth of the horror of war and the heartbreaking heroism of ordinary people. Fantastic read.' - Susan Duncan, author of Salvation Creek

'What Remains is about the eternal themes of love and war, the most intense and contemporaneous versions of both.' - Lucina Kathmann