Why a Booktrail?
Careful what you wish for and who you fall in love with…
The Lion Tamer Who Lost
What you need to know before your trail
Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes it hadn’t…
Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…
Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it?
What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?
A dark, consuming drama that shifts from Zimbabwe to England, and then back into the past, The Lion Tamer Who Lost is also a devastatingly beautiful love story … with a tragic heart.
Travel Guide
Hull to Zimbabwe
The author writes:
The Lion Tamer Who Lost is set both in Hull, East Yorkshire, and at a lion sanctuary in Zimbabwe.
It was easy to write the Hull part as this is my home city. In some ways, however, the scenes in Hull were generally set inside the home not in the outdoors; at a kitchen sink, in a flat, on a hospital ward. The characters reflect the city more with their blunt accents, dry humour and misunderstood ways. I wanted these scenes to be a complete contrast to the vast lion reserve of Zimbabwe, which is where lions are rescued and the set free, and where the sky and savanna are endless.
I have never been to Africa and so for this novel I had to do a lot of research and use my imagination. I read about the landscape and foliage of Zimbabwe. I looked at Google maps. I talked to friends who have been. I read blogs by volunteers at real-life lion sanctuaries. And I watched lots of lion footage too. I tried to imagine not only how such a place would look, but how it would smell, what the heat would be like, and how intense the darkness.
The lion sanctuary in the book is a fictional one – The Liberty Lion Rehabilitation Project – and is parallel to the Zambezi River, just forty miles from Victoria Falls. This area was a hunting ground once, where warthogs and wildebeest were shot by cross-border trophy hunters. Now it’s a national park, and its riverbanks are a catwalk for elephants, buffalo, leopards and lions, as well as herds of antelope, zebra, impala and giraffe.
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
A novel about a gay love affair and a lion sanctuary – you wouldn’t think these two things would work together in a novel but they do. And the meaning of the title in particular when you realise what it really means is a nice touch and brings everything together.
It was fascinating to read the scenes set in a lion sanctuary especially when I discovered the author had never been to one. You’d never think it at all! Shows you the power of good research and the emotions you can evoke on the page with good writing.
A VERY emotional read. Louise Beech what are you doing to me! Your writing is lovely and evocative and you made me care for what happened to Andrew and Ben.
Did not see the ending at all!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Lion Tamer Who Lost
Destination : Hull, Zimbabwe Author/Guide: Louise Beech Departure Time: 2000s
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