In A Town Near You

By: Russell James

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Disease sweeps the nation, people are quarantined, the government fumbles. The weather is extraordinary and people complain about illegal immigrants.It can only be the year 2001, at the start of a new millennium, a year in which Foot and Mouth Disease will cost billions and see the death of hundreds of thousands of animals. Farmers will lose their livelihoods, some will kill themselves; the General Election will be postponed. And all this before September, when there will be a different tragedy on the other side of the world.Do you remember? Do you really remember?Do you remember the refugees from that short-lived nation once known as Yugoslavia? Where would they go? Where would they be placed? Perhaps in a town near you.In A Town Near You tells of an extraordinary year in one such town. It follows the intersecting paths of those who already lived in the town and those who hoped to make new lives there. But 2001 was one of the rainiest years on record. Far from being a golden start to a new millennium, it seemed that things could not get worse. They could, of course. For although the world now remembers only Nine Eleven, this town faced its own disasters. Yet despite it all, people still lived and fell in love. And most survived their tragedy.2001 can seem a lifetime ago. But it could be today.