Who Knows Tomorrow

September 22, 2014
In the midst of a career in high fashion, journalist and author (Paris Interiors) Lovatt-Smith stepped off her gilded career path to pursue a passion. This inspiring memoir explores her transformation from the youngest editor at British Vogue into an activist focused on the establishment of childrenâs aid organizations in Ghana. When her daughterâs emotional problems became overwhelming, a counselor suggested that volunteering might help. Hoping the experience of working with orphans would be a âlife lessonâ for her 17-year-old daughter, whom she had adopted 12 years earlier, Lovatt-Smith moved their household to Ghana. Conditions were abominable, but working with the children changed the course of both their lives, intellectually and geographically. As Lovatt-Smith writes, âI had moved to Ghana, effectively transformed my career from writing and styling for magazines to charity work, and opened three companiesâOafrica in Ghana, Spain and Franceâ Though she was industrious and committed to her work, the authorâs naïveté regarding her adopted countryâs customs and culture soon became apparent as she grasped the depth of corruption within Ghanaâs adoption business. The author reversed her plan in 2005, and initiated a crusade to get children out of orphanages and into families. âIt was not only what I was reading of course, it was the nearly four years of experience in seven different orphanages, all with the same problems,â she writes. Lovatt-Smithâs immensely readable narrative explores her personal metamorphosis and her positive impact on the children of Ghana.