Sharif Gemie is a retired history Professor who has lived in Wales for thirty years. He enjoys walking the still green spaces of the Monmouthshire-Brecon Canal, listening to trad-jazz and psychedelic-folk, and making his own ginger and apricot flapjacks. While a lecturer, he researched histories of marginalized and mobile peoples, such as refugees, migrants and travellers. After retirement, he fulfilled one of his lifelong ambitions: he took up Creative Writing.
The Displaced began with research into refugees during the Second World War, when Sharif noticed that some of the life histories of both refugees and UN aid-workers sounded like novels.

A compelling tale of love, loss and hope in the ruins of World War Two.

In 1945, an idealistic young couple set out from London to work in Europe. Edmund and Eleanor feel called to be part of the humanitarian mission to help the millions of people displaced by conflict and fascism.

Back home, Edmund was a bookseller and Eleanor an ambulance-driver, fired up by socialism and feminism. They aim to help refugees rebuild their lives, but volunteering for a UN agency means confronting bureaucracy and corruption.

Edmund struggles to lead a UN humanitarian team, while Eleanor grows disillusioned. On top of these problems, Eleanor hides a troubling secret which will drop like a bombshell into the marriage.

From Britain, to France, Germany, Poland and beyond.

A poignant story of a couple struggling to understand each other with the backdrop of Europe at a crossroads.