Za moju dragu

The protagonist, Alfie Budd, a thirty-four-year-old English teacher at a London language school, returns to London from Hong Kong after the tragic death of his wife, Rose, with whom he had an idyllic but brief love affair. Devastated by grief, Alfie believes he will never know true love again and sinks into fleeting adventures with his young female students from abroad, such as attractive Asian women.

His world is falling apart: his parents' marriage is on the verge of breaking up; his grandmother Nan, a proud matriarch, is struggling with illness and family problems; his friends, the Changs, a noisy Chinese family, are moving to the suburbs. Alfie meets an old Chinese man practicing tai-chi in the park, learns the art and finds solace in meditation. He helps Jackie, an ambitious single mother, with her language studies, and gradually falls in love with a female student, facing the dilemma between superficial relationships and deep intimacy.

Through encounters with different cultures (East-West), Alfie confronts loneliness, family dynamics, and healing from loss. The novel mixes tears and laughter, tragedies and unexpected happy turns, emphasizing the resilience of the heart and the importance of relationships.