THE FLOWER PLANTATION

Arthur Baptiste knows little of Rwanda s past and is unaware of its emerging troubles. He lives with his half-Tutsi, half-Belgian father and English mother on a flower plantation, where he talks to no one not even the butterflies he avidly collects. Until one day Beni appears.

Beni, the cook's granddaughter, is a child much like Arthur, but one who lives in a world far different from his own. Their friendship will take them from innocent adventures to dangerous encounters and on towards dark revelations. As the years pass and conflicts erupt outside the plantation, Arthur comes to realize that the safe haven of his childhood and the entire country around it is about to be torn apart.
When news comes that the President has been killed Arthur is forced to leave his home, the country he knows and the people he loves. Arthur must say goodbye to Beni and leave her to a fate far worse than either could have imagined.

A novel about how love can triumph over the madness of genocide and war.

Nora Anne Brown studied composing at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2010 a trip to Rwanda gave her the inspiration for her first novel, The Flower Plantation, and her passion for Africa. Nora lives near St Andrews in Scotland with her husband. The Flower Plantation is Nora’s first novel.