Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Dr. Alfred Jones appears content with his life: his recent paper on caddis fly larvae is set to make waves, his job as a fisheries scientist is satisfactory, and he and his wife, Mary, have just celebrated twenty years of marriage, marked by a new electric toothbrush gift. Yet, he feels something is missing. When approached about a project to create a salmon river in Yemen, he initially dismisses the idea as absurd. However, the proposal gains traction among British politicians looking for a distraction from negative news in the Middle East. Soon, the Prime Minister is promoting the project, and Fred is compelled to abandon his research to figure out how to transport ten thousand salmon to a desert. The initiative is driven by a Yemeni sheikh, a passionate and wealthy man whose belief in the impossible begins to resonate with Fred, challenging his rational objections and testing his marriage. As Fred interacts with Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, the sheikh's elegant land agent, the cracks in his stable life widen. Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey of faith and fishing, leading Fred to discover unexpected belief, love, and heroism that surprises both him and those around him.