Heather Jackson

Red Dust

"To show you mercy is no gain; to destroy you is no loss." - The Angkar.Pol Pot's shadowy organisation the Angkar destroyed almost a quarter of Cambodia's population during the Khmer Rouge's murderous rule.Emily, a London journalist, remains haunted by the disappearance of her mother, a doctor, in Cambodia twenty years earlier. When a name from the past resurfaces, she realises she can't move on without trying to uncover the truth.She engineers an assignment to cover illegal logging in Cambodia, but the investigation soon becomes dangerous and deeply personal. Guided by journalist Jon Berger and his Cambodian wife Nary, Emily journeys from Phnom Penh to Battambang and deep into the forests where illegal logging is robbing the villagers of their livelihoods.As Emily closes in on the truth, those complicit will do anything to keep their secrets buried. Can she finally achieve justice for her mother and come to terms with her past?Against a backdrop of the Khmer Rouge's brutal legacy and Cambodia's astonishing natural beauty, Red Dust is the story of a daughter's search for justice and the rekindling of a love affair with a remarkable country.