Thorns

Moving between the tragedy of 1990s Bosnia and the apparent tranquillity of a Shropshire village Thorns relates the story of James Lambert, son of a wealthy farmer who turns his back on agriculture to become a war correspondent.
He learns that evil is not confined to far away places but thrives wherever human nature allows it to take hold.
Lost in the back streets of Sarajevo during the siege he finds help in a cafe from Katya, a young widow. Their relationship develops quickly and he moves in to share the family's increasingly difficult life. He is injured in the shelling and as the siege intensifies he persuades her to leave with him through the tunnel. But that is blocked by flood water and as they follow a mountain path in the snow she is killed by a sniper and he is hustled out of the country by the military.
Traumatised he moves to a small hill farm in the Welsh Marches determined to recover by trying farming as he thinks it ought to be and attempt to write the book about the war he has been paid an advance to produce.
His peace is disturbed by Kate, a naive girl desperate for somewhere to keep a horse. Puzzled by her anxiety he agrees and gradually pieces together the facts of her situation trying to escape what is effectively an arranged marriage between two land-hungry farming families. He discovers the sordid tale of one family's hold over the other in concealing an attempted murder. As he uncovers the facts of her troubled life with her ex-boyfriend, Steve, she begins to trust him, then stuns him with her request for lessons in love.
Kate's father dies in uncertain circumstances, leaving her mother free to find the man she had loved and the family farm goes up for sale. But Steve and his father are barred from buying it which adds fury to the fire of Steve's hatred.
James' growing affection for Kate and his desire to protect her are confused by memories of the one who died, made more difficult as they become the target of a campaign of increasing violence from Steve.
A letter from Katya's family recalls him to the horrors of Bosnia where they have located her grave. The full scale of mass murder is now being revealed as more and more death pits are found and he is commissioned to write about the immense task of uncovering and identifying thousands of bodies. He is absorbed in reporting the country's ongoing misery.
Back in England Steve's behaviour escalates into arson, torching Kate's family farm and she finally reveals the full extent of Steve's character and her fear of him.
On another trip to Bosnia he realises at last his love for Kate. But on his return he is forced to face up to the demands of his publisher and while he is in London Steve takes his chance for revenge.

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