A Long Walk With Fate (2025)
Three families, one fateful connection ...
When Aiden's adoptive mother dies, he sees a photograph in a magazine that makes him want to learn more about his blood relatives. His quiet, impoverished life in Vancouver changes dramatically and he struggles to find footing in a strange new world.
Gabi, working on her family’s equestrian estate near Cairo, learns something about her husband that inspires a reckless — and dangerous — plot to ensure her future well-being.
Dominic and Amina, living a charmed life with their children in Morocco, take a vacation that proves to be the catalyst for a terrifying incident involving their five year old daughter, Rosa.
The paths of all three families eventually collide, forcing them to confront long-held secrets, and festering resentments. Each must come to terms with the past and discover the power of reconciliation and forgiveness.
The El Hassan family had a paradoxical aura, one of welcome, yet exclusivity, like a secret society. They were warm, even loving, ready to hug, squeeze, eager to be close. They carried their wealth naturally, no hint of ostentation. But there was something untouchable about them, an invisible, uncrossable boundary. Their happiness filled Aiden with curiosity and longing. This feeling was not jealousy or even envy, but rather the sense of a closed door, one he would never be permitted to open.
He needed to go home. He could never claim a permanent role in the fairy tale. But he would miss them all, these strange, beautiful people.
It is rare to read a book so emotionally precise yet broad in scope as it explores the capacities and possibilities of the human heart. Whether on the path of love, vengeance, or reconciliation, Torlée’s characters wear their flaws like wounds. Beauty and death permeate the story, but this book ends on a subtle, enduring note of hope. A remarkable achievement.
Arif Anwar, The Storm
An engrossing story that criss-crosses from Morocco to Chile to Canada with three closely linked but disparate families, and their relationships, travails, and treacheries.
Michelle Alfano,
The Unfinished Dollhouse: A Memoir of Gender and Identity