Running Home

Denise is an English teenager and a member of the Jewish minority. Her mother died when she was a baby. Running Home describes her journey to adulthood, taking her through dysfunctional family relationships, confrontations with anti-Semitism and the discovery of the tensions and contradictions of the modern State of Israel. Those who help her on her path include her grandmother who was a refugee from Nazi Germany and a compassionate English Pakistani.

Denise’s father and stepmother are observant Jews who are exasperated by her challenges to their values. At sixteen, Denise is itching to break loose from the suffocating affluence of her London home and is helped by her doting grandmother to escape to a Sixth Form Boarding College in the beautiful countryside of the North of England. But, before Denise finally leaves home, she discovers a startling secret about her mother’s death that will eventually alter the course of her life.

She thrives at her new school until anti-Semitism and racism pollute the atmosphere. At University, she hides her true identity until her boyfriend reveals his own anti-Semitic views. 

Deciding to visit Israel, Denise finds out more about her mother. She falls in love with the country and a reserve soldier, but disaster strikes when he is seriously wounded in a military clash.  

Denise returns to England confused and disillusioned. She meets Imran, an English Pakistani whose support and wisdom helps her when her father falls seriously ill and asks for her help. What will the future hold?