You Raised Me Up (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781913662851)

It's been a long time since Laila lived in Nairobi.

The death of her mother, Lakshmi, brings her home. Lakshmi, the mother she's always loved but hasn't always liked. Lakshmi, exuberant and vivacious, a nuisance to teenage Laila but a blessing as she's raised her own family. Lakshmi, wasted away at the hands of a cruel illness.

The loss takes Laila back to her childhood experiences and then through the revolving doors of the decadent five-star hotel world where she has spent the rest of her life, travelling the globe from Dubai to Kinshasa. A world not as glamorous as Paris Hilton's, where petty rivalries and fleeting friendships have become far too familiar. A crumbling marriage and helping genocide victims are some of the trials Laila has encountered in her search for happiness.

Lakshmi, Laila's rock, may be gone, but her legacy survives. Her beliefs, her values, every way that she has touched Laila's life-these things will live on.

It's time for Laila to become the person her mother always wanted her to be.