WHAT REMAINS

A meticulously researched, brilliant and moving debut novel of love and war.

What Remains follows the tumultuous life of journalist Kate Price from her first assignment as a naïve 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 war 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 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 where nothing makes sense, Kate can only question everything she has ever believed in. And the answer, when it comes, will finally show her the way - but it won't be able to protect her from what she both fears and longs for. 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. Denise Leith has taught international relations, Middle East politics, Australian foreign policy and Australian politics at Sydney's Macquarie University where she is an Honorary Associate. Previous books are The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia (University of Hawaii Press, 2002) and Bearing Witness: The Lives of War Correspondents and Photojournalists (Random House, 2004). In 2005, as part of the committee of International PEN, she was awarded the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Community Award for work with writers held in detention. Denise currently lives in Sydney and writes and teaches part time at university.