Made In Hero: The War for Soap

by Betty Hugh

Hero is as much a dream as it is a land. A mythical urban oasis speckled with olive trees—then cased in barbed wire—it's a disarmingly seductive nation in conflict. To veteran reporter James Teheda, the assassination of a local rebel commander is, at first glance, just another day's news. But when Teheda learns that the commander was a maker of soap—the nation's proudest craft tradition—the slain rebel's curious quest to reclaim an ancient soap factory takes on a whole new meaning. This portrait of a stoic society under siege is gritty magic realism at its best.

180 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published November 19, 2007