Love Across Wars

In Love Across Wars, a multicultural novel, two historic families connected through WWII find their destinies intertwine again in the aftermath of 9/11 as their scions are caught in the whirlwind of events from Philadelphia to Peshawar and Afghanistan. Christina Gartenley has been having a nightmarish vision signaling 9/11 since she was 10. Her brother David joins the Army after their father's horrifying ordeal at the Twin Towers on 9/11, but goes missing in action during 2006 in Afghanistan. Their Philadelphia family is connected through WWII with North Western sub-continent---now Pakistan--- when a lady of the family was saved in Singapore by a South Asian man at the risk of his own life. In their effort to cross over into Afghanistan to locate David's whereabouts, Christina and Nader ---grandson of the family's benefactor from WWII---get kidnapped by Taliban at Peshawar while Nader's uncle is killed. After a month long captivity in the Tribal Areas, Nader digs himself out of a dungeon, frees Christina, avenges upon Taliban for killing his uncle, and tries to escape out of the region. In the ensuing manhunt by Taliban Nader and Christina fight valiantly and die at each other's side, refusing to surrender or seek protection from nearby villages. It is a story of love across generations and cultures which grapples with the tragic gulf created between cultures by the catastrophic events of 9/11; it unearths diverse mindsets.