Random Acts of Heroic Love

Product Details

Author : Danny Scheinmann
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780552774222
Number of Pages : 432
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2008-01-01
Publisher : Black Swan

ASIN : 0552774227

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Editorial Reviews

Daily Mail

'Two strikingly different tales of love and grief are gradually revealed to have more in common than just the tenactiy of both men to cling desperately to the memory of love...a lush, romantic novel'

Sunday Express

'Really is as special as its press suggests...beautifully told...an amazingly assured debut'

Publishing News

'A tour de force ... mesmerizing'

Observer

'Tender and insightful'

Book Description

Can love outwit death? A heartbreaking epic story of two lives sustained by the memory of love

Product Description

1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever. 1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting? Danny Scheinmann paints a dramatic portrait of two men sustaining their lives through the memory of love. Cinematic and brimming with raw emotions, it is the magnificent and emotive debut from a remarkable new writer.

Synopsis

1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever. 1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting? Danny Scheinmann paints a dramatic portrait of two men sustaining their lives through the memory of love. Cinematic and brimming with raw emotions, it is the magnificent and emotive debut from a remarkable new writer.

From the Back Cover

Two tales of love

Two stories of loss

One great emotional journey…

1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in hospital somewhere in South America. His girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn’t know where he is or how she died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something that will change his life for ever.

1917: Moritz Daniecki has survived fighting in the Great War. But at what cost? Abandoned in the Siberian wilderness, he is determined to return to his beloved Lotte, the memory of whose single kiss has sustained him throughout the war. What lies before him is a terrifying journey over the Russian Steppes. If he ever makes it, will she still be waiting?

About the Author

Danny Scheinmann is a writer, actor and storyteller. He has performed at the National Theatre and in over thirty countries. His tours include storytelling in Siberia and a year and a half working for an avant-garde theatre group creating shows with street children in Colombia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. He also co-wrote and acted in the acclaimed independent film The West Wittering Affair. He was born in Manchester and lives in London with his wife and three children. Random Acts of Heroic Love is his first book. See his website - www.dannyscheineman.co.uk

Customer Reviews

a real let down (2008-09-03)

I normally like the Richard and Judy choices, and I thought the title was beautiful and it sounded amazing from the blurb on the back. Normally I would check the inside and read a few pages to check I can get into the authors style. In this case I didn't andI regret it. It is an awfully written book with no cliche left unturned. I gave it 50 pages and then stopped. Maybe I will go back one day and give it another go, but I would avoid it to be honest there are many better books out there.

Absorbingly detailed.......... (2008-08-31)

Although this sort of book isn't what I would immediately go for, I can say that I am honestly still split regards how I feel about it. Reading it was a real labour at times, not that it is by any means a difficult read, and at other times I found myself unable to put it down and read well into the early hours! The narrative is more than detailed and thoroughly absorbing at times, at others I found myself frustrated with the pace and willed it to speed up. Definately worth giving it a go - even if you abandon it, I bet you'll pick it back up again!

Interesting but not compelling (2008-08-16)

Overall I enjoyed reading this book, an easy read, nicely written. However some parts was over detailed, slow and predictable.

a bit dull (2008-08-14)

I wouldn't normally have bought this going by the blurb on the back, but I was in France and was too lazy to read in French and this was one of only 4 English books I could find in Fnac to keep me in books, having read all the others that I'd brought with me - (I can't sit still without having a pile of books to occupy me and so it was a sanity purchase).It was fine for passing the time whilst sitting on the beach, but that's all. One of my friends has a rule that she avoids anything with a Richard & Judy sticker on it - this book had such a sticker - but then so do a lot of very well written interesting newer books...Overall recommendation - Nope. A probable future donation to a charity shop as will definitely not re-read.

Soul-searching, achingly beautiful story. (2008-08-02)

Well, I'd seen this on the bookshelves, read the publicity blurb, and thought it sounded just too sickly for me. However, I was interested, and decided to give it a go. I am so glad that I did, Random Acts of Heroic Love is exactly that. It is beautiful, achingly sad, and yet hopeful too. It tells the tale of Leo and Eleni, 2 young lovers who are overcome by tragedy. In the aftermath of this, one of them is left to exist alone. The struggle that is faced to come to terms with what has happened, and to somehow find the strength to carry on is so real, so immense, that my heart broke for the two of them. It's about the unfairness of life, the reality and finality of death, and how the grieving process is so shatteringly intense. It's about having to let go, when you just want to hang on, and about starting again, when all you want to do is be with your loved one. Intertwined with this story is the story of Moritz and Lotte, during the first world war, which comes to have a massive relevance to Leo and Eleni's lives. It's about the utter futility of war, and the havoc that it wreaks on the lives of everyone it touches. It's about talking to loved ones, telling them what they mean to us, and how much we love them. Don't keep secrets, they do no good. It is about so many things, but mostly, it is about LOVE, and that can't be bad, can it? If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so, it is well worth it.

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