Emil Rem, an eccentric accountant becomes a writer of eccentric characters, in exotic locales—each chapter taking us on a trip into his fascinating twisted world. Born to a close knit, middle class Muslim East Indian family in Dar-es-Salam, Africa in the 50’s, he is then moved to Maidenhead England at the age of five. The next twenty years are spent shuttling between England and East Africa, wearing a St. Christopher’s cross one minute and attending church, to wearing a green armband and attending Muslim religious classes in Africa the next. Moving to Canada, marrying a woman from the Philippines and having two boys only adds further texture to his stories.

At the age of five, his mother who possessed no education, but held impossible ambitions, divorced his father and moved to England with Emil in tow. The only work she could get was as a trainee nurse but found she could not look after Emil. An English working class family volunteered to take him in until she found a permanent home for him. The initial two weeks turned into 12 years…

His father continued to work for an airline which permitted Emil to travel free(ly) on standby and from the age of 12 he began to travel the world on his own…

“Neither of my parents could afford to come with me. My mother gave me a pittance for my travels—it was all she could afford. I would arrive at London airport with a carry-on bag and a wad of tickets and take whichever airline had space available. I could be in Moscow or Rio de Janeiro, I never knew. Nor did my family.”

Today, I am a successful accountant, a respected member of my local community and the author of three well-reviewed books with more in the works. Many of their chapters have appeared in literary magazines. My wife and I are happily married after 30 years and we have raised two pain-in-the-neck boys who drive me crazy, but whom I love dearly.