ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Sanctuary by Tom Gaisford

Sanctuary by Tom Gaisford is published by Cinto Press, an imprint of Bath Publishing and is available now. My thanks to Claire Maxwell from Read Maxwell for sending a review copy.

What possesses someone to claim asylum in his own country? Alex Donovan is a young refugee lawyer in crisis. Helping desperate clients reach safety is what gives his job meaning. But he now finds himself demoted, signed off sick for stress, and facing redeployment to the firm’s subterranean billing department. Then there is Amy, the woman he adores. The irresistible junior barrister seems to be drifting away from him. With little to lose and all to prove, Alex dreams up a madcap plan to restore his honour and secure Amy’s affection.

What an intriguing read Sanctuary is. Alex Donovan is a refugee lawyer, one of the types of lawyers who really want to make a difference, to help people. He’s bogged down by his six minute segmented chargeable hours and by the fact that he isn’t making as much of a difference to those seeking asylum as he hoped. Add to that his feelings for Amy, one of the barristers that he instructs, who constantly blows hot and cold towards him, and Alex is struggling a bit. After being signed off work, he comes up with a plan to claim asylum in his own country, a daring and potentially dangerous plan which serves to highlight the way asylum seekers are treated and might just also attract the attention of Amy.

Sanctuary wasn’t really like any other book I’ve read. Alex is funny and sharp-witted, and his interactions, particularly with other legal folk, for whom he has a certain amount of disdain, made me laugh out loud. It’s also a stark portrayal of life in an immigration centre, viewing it from the perspectives of those detained, those running it, and a lawyer who just wants to help.

The narrative is told in punchy short bursts which made it really easy to read and the pace is kept up throughout, right up until the triumphant conclusion. It’s a very good debut novel.

About the Author Tom Gaisford is a barrister in the field of immigration and asylum law, and a freelance contributor to The Independent, The Tablet and Open Democracy. In 2021, he froze his practising certificate and moved with his young family to Guernsey, where he has since completed his first novel, SANCTUARY, and begun work on his second. Prior to law, Tom did a degree in History; an MSc in Human Rights; and spent a year at Salamanca University, where he studied Spanish literature, poetry and translation, and obtained the DELE, Diploma Superior.