Farah's Pilot — Charles Thomas

A harrowing love story, Farah's Pilot follows the lives of Farah Hassan and Xavier Sutton. Farah is the beautiful daughter of one of Malaysia's prominent, but corrupt businessmen and his wife Raja Soraya, who heralds from one of Malaysia's Royal families; Xavier is a handsome pilot and son of a successful business family from Canada. The story follows their courtship and eventual marriage, tracing a bright path through Malaysian culture and winding its way through the tangled forest of familial obligation, racial overtones, and religious and cultural expectation. Their love story is further complicated when Xavier is wrongfully accused and convicted of a crime related to his work as a pilot in the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Government corruption and ruthless middlemen are both the architects of the crime and the primary obstacles to proving Xavier's innocence. Told with honesty and heart, this novel is a spirited exploration of morality, and a celebration of the ties that bind-family, love, devotion, trust, commitment-in the face of the insidious forces that threaten destruction.