Ticket to Paradise

by Yvonne Ridley

Judith Tempest, a British reporter, is searching for the Truth. But when it starts to spill out in her brilliant front page reportage of Middle East suicide bombing in retaliation for Israeli tanks mowing down innocent Palestinian women and children, both 'Tempest' and 'Truth' start to spell 'Trouble'-- with a capital 'T', joke her friends and colleagues. At age 37, Judith's biological clock is ticking fast. Torn between career and family, the young reporter is determined to have both . . . a dilemma that has caused many successful young career women to end up in the hot seat instead of the hot tub-with Mr. Wrong. Tempest rides the storms of passion from lovers and fiancés who promise her the world yet give her enough reason to believe that "World" is laced with all the trappings of deception-and betrayal. Mohammed Khalaf is her lifeboat, her hero. A Muslim import-export Palestinian residing in London, Mohammed slowly reveals his tragic past as the two fall deeply in love. At last, Judith feels she has found a man who treats her as an equal, a man whose love and fidelity she can trust. The story unfolds in a non-stop mystery thriller that begins two days before America's tragic 9/11 in a marble bathtub decked with candles, coke and champagne at New York's Regent Hotel and tears along at a reckless pace of passion, betrayal, adventure and espionage. Tempest/Ridley's message at the end is This is a fiction work laced with the truth about today's current global crisis written by one of the world's most courageous journalists who has learned that sometimes fiction is the best way to deliver that truth.

241 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Becky Reed]

Yvonne Ridley creates an engrossing and suspenseful thriller of personal courage in the wake of sweeping global change of perspective in Ticket to Paradise. In the Arab region, the jihad is the capital of the world where brothers go to help their fellow brothers and paradise is where all martyrs are destined as a reward for their jihad on earth. Cycles of hate and tunnel vision repeat an unending loop.

A complexly engrossing work of fiction from a woman’s perspective detailing the deepest emotions intertwined with ethical and intellectual comprehension, this tale pulls the reader smoothly into its field and subtly presents a mirror for one’s own evaluations. Ticket to Paradise serves a paradox of this phrase in a delectably thought provoking and intriguing scenario as the panoramic drama unfolds and we watch spellbound the personal growth that springs from courage to embrace changing awareness.

9/11 showed just how messy and complicated life on this planet of countries with differing faiths and cultures can be with the political arena and very personal responses of her citizens. In the face of supposed elevations of enlightenment, culture often ensnares its people in bigotry and racism precipitated from religious doctrine despite the great teachings of spiritually aware text.

The riveting tale touches the heart and soul of passionate women of intellectual bent and presents a microcosm vs. macrocosm view of faith and cultural doctrine as we watch individuals and society come to grips with these facets, including the place of women and social facades. The bright and torn protagonist as a British star reporter stands on the brink of self-revelation in her personal evolution and mainstay choices which ultimately route the path of her and other’s destinies. She must weed and eradicate unsuitable relationships, no matter how fascinating to find the strength to follow her newly developed beliefs into her own scope of conviction for her personal and romantic arenas as well as her world viewpoint. Interviewing her own integrity, colored by treks into Palestine and the Arab world as an investigative reporter of human import, leads her to distinguish between the definition of martyr and terrorist.

Ridley’s work exists as an outstanding source of political reality, choices, particular and firmly held beliefs and their consequences. A final twist leads the reader to feel a bit out of phase – and that is, of course, the first step to re-evaluation. One must face the fire and be true to the inner calling.