After the Storm

When Marilyn, his wife of 35 years, died from Motor Neurone Disease, Manzoor Ishani found himself facing life alone for the first time in decades.During the pandemic, Brexit and COVID-19 restrictions left him without professional carers or adequate medical support. With no medical training, he became Marilyn’s sole carer, providing both the practical nursing and emotional strength that sustained them through the final three years of her illness.Hoping to find peace after her death, Manzoor embarked on a solo cruise along the River Rhine but the experience proved deeply unsettling, as he recounted in A Brutal Disease.Determined not to let that experience define him, he subsequently joined another river cruise for solo travellers on the River Rhône.After the Storm is the story of that remarkable journey. Poignant, perceptive and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, it celebrates the unexpected friendships, eccentric characters and moments of joy that can emerge even after life’s darkest storms.“Surely life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather one where you skid in sideways, a glass of vintage port in one hand, a mature Stilton in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, ‘Wahey, what a ride!”

Manzoor GK Ishani is a former senior partner with a City law firm and has over 40 years’ experience in UK and international licensing, franchising and distribution law. After graduating from the University of St. Andrews with a Master’s Degree in Political Economy, Philosophy and Modern History he qualified as a solicitor and specialised in intellectual property and European Competition and Anti-trust law in the City. He is a former Fellow of the Centre for International Legal Studies based in Salzberg and was considered a leader in the field of U.K. and international franchising. He has written and contributed to several books and hundreds of published articles on International Franchising and distribution. He was advisory editor to the Journal of International Franchising and Distribution Law (1995-2001).