My thanks to the author for the review copy and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me on to the blog tour. You can get your copy of the book on the following links:
https://tomtrott.com/tbd
Ben longs to be prime minister one day. But with no political connections, he is
about to crash out of a Masters degree with no future ahead. So when by chance
he becomes fast friends with a young Arab prince, and is offered a job in his
government, he jumps at the chance to get on the political ladder.
Amal dreads the throne. And with Ben’s help he wants to reform his
country, steering it onto a path towards democracy. But with the king’s health
failing, revolutionaries in the streets, and terrorism threatening everyone,
the country is ready to tear itself apart.
My Thoughts:
The Benevolent Dictator is the first book that I have read by Tom Trott. It is relatively short at 187 pages but it packs one mighty punch. It is fantastic and probably the most thought provoking writing I have read this year.
Ben and Amal are both brilliantly drawn characters and what we have here is an exploration of what happens when two cultures meet, do they blend or do they collide. A story of contrasts and although there is a political undertone throughout it never became too weighty to read.
I adored the way in which Ben and Amal have shared values and the possibility that they could work together to do good things. They stumble across hurdles in their somewhat idealistic view of things, but my gosh these two could make the world a better place.
The writing here is superb, the story fascinating and the ideas bold. There is much to be admired in the writing of Tom Trott. The Benevolent Dictator is poignant and had me as a reader in the palm of its hand. Really spectacular. So much to think about in the myriad of ideas presented.
Highly recommended.
About the Author:
Tom Trott was born
in Brighton. He first started writing at Junior School, where he and a group of
friends devised and performed comedy plays for school assemblies, much to the
amusement of their fellow pupils. Since leaving school and growing up to be a
big boy, he has written a short comedy play that was performed at the Theatre
Royal Brighton in May 2014 as part of the Brighton Festival; he has written
Daye's Work, a television pilot for the local Brighton channel, and he has won
the Empire Award (thriller category) in the 2015 New York Screenplay Contest.
He is the proverbial Brighton rock, and currently lives in the city with his
wife.
Social Media Links – www.twitter.com/tjtrott, www.facebook.com/tomtrottbooks,
www.tomtrott.com
Please check out the other stops on the blog tour.
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