The Journey

The Journey by Abdul Musa Adam is the true story of his 11 year journey as a 7 year-old refugee from his home in the Darfur region of Sudan to becoming a Rider Groom at the prestigious Park House Racing Stables in Hampshire. Abdul's journey ,from the horrific slaughter of almost all of his tribe, to a refugee camp in Chad, on to Libya, which turned into another war zone then finally Britain via the underside of a Lorry from France is quite horrific. The only survivors of the Darfur massacre were Abdul, his younger brother Yusuf and 2 friends of his parents. As Abdul makes his way from traumatic situation to traumatic situation he eventually finds himself alone and totally confused as once in Britain he struggles to understand an alien culture and language. while fighting feelings of guilt over a decision he made along the way.. Struggling with PTSD and not making the lives of the many wonderful people who try to help him any easier Abdul is finally offered the chance to go on an Equine therapy course ,which with his love of animals and skills as a rider from a very young age in Darfur changes his life completely.
This is a shocking,moving and uplifting book,it's also a good insight into the kind of horrors many of those seeking asylum in this country have experienced. There were no big handouts for Abdul,he wasn't given a house at the expense of anyone else and his bad experiences continued in this country as he found himself housed with people who robbed him and scared him to the degree that he preferred sleeping in a park.
Abdul is an amazing person, just as amazing are those who took rather a difficult person under their wing and encouraged and nurtured him until his life took an almost fairy-tale turn for the better and this book is testament to their selflessness and love for someone who many would have given up on.
Because of Abdul's less than fluent English skills the book is written "as told to" distinguished journalist Ross Wynne Jones through an Arabic interpreter .Ms Wynne Jones has reported from the Darfuri refugee camps in Chad and coincidentally they would at times have been in the same places several years before they met.
Ross Wynn Jones has done an excellent of telling Abdul's incredible story and what a story it is.

Thanks to Abdul Musa Adam, Ross Wynn Jones, Mirror Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This is an inspirational story of a young boy's flight from Sudan to the UK, via Chad, Libya and France. It is powerful, emotional and truly inspirational. An absolutely incredible and powerful read. My thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Every now and then a book comes along which opens your eyes to a world you never knew existed, to a life and experience that is beyond your own comprehension and then comes along The Journey, by Abdul Musa Adam and Ros Wynne-Jones, the inspirational and unimaginable story of a young boy’s journey from the death and ruin of Darfur to Royal Ascot .

It’s not easy for us here, in the West, to comprehend what it’s like for people who live vastly different lives to ourselves, nor is it easy for us to understand the trauma and tragedy of those who’ve undergone such hardships in their lives to even get a glimpse of the comparative riches we enjoy in our own lives. This is why books, such as The Journey, are so important.

Living in Darfur at the age of 7 Abdul Musa Adam lost his entire family and home, apart from his younger brother, when his village was attacked and burned, from there his journey took him to the refugee camps in Chad and to the brutality of Gaddafi’s regime in Libya where he lost the guardian who had taken care of him since Darfur. Escaping the war in Libya Abdul escaped with the generosity and help of others fleeing the nightmare of Libya at that time, to escape to Europe and hopefully find safety. Living in a bin in France and with the help of a Tunisian man Abdul hid under a lorry and escaped to the UK to hopefully find safety, freedom and his brother.

The Journey is not just a testament to Abdul’s plight but also a testament to those who helped him survive here in the UK, after reading the book I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for a young boy, completely out of his own environment, amid strange people and customs, yet with the kindness and support of those people Abdul has since made a life for himself here as a rider groom at one of the most prestigious training schools in the UK.

An incredibly moving and inspiring story, The Journey, is ‘narrated’ via an Arabic translator by Abdul and written by Journalist Ros Wynne-Jones who treats the story with a great deal of sensitivity and expertise to not only put the story into a readable format but also relay the emotions of the story to the reader in such a way that we experience them with Abdul as he feels them himself.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this very much. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟