Welcome to the first of my regular Tuesday Teaser slot where I will be providing you with some basic information and the first page of a book that I think you might like to know more about.
Todays book is Shavlan by Eunice E. Blecker. Does this book appeal to you based on the first page? Has it whet your appetite to read more? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
From the Blurb
Shavlan - A Woman's Journey to Independence
Sarah Taube cowers in the bakery cellar clutching her three children, listening to the sounds of shooting and shouting by the White Cossacks during a pogrom. In order to survive, she enters into a bargain with the ruthless Commissar, Dimitri, an orthodox Jew transformed by tragedy into a high-ranking Bolshevik. Will Dimitri be able to protect Sarah Taube and her family? Will Sarah Taube be reunited with her wanderlust husband who leaves for South Africa to seek his fortune and find himself, and will she realize her life long dream to go to America?
Little does Sarah Taube realize as she stands at the train tracks with her children, how much her life is going to change.
This family saga is based on true events in the life of the author's maternal grandmother spanning three continents and five decades. It tells of a woman's journey to independence while living through World War I, deportation from her village in Lithuania, the Russian Revolution, the Civil War and Lithuanian Independence.
First Page
Chapter 1 - Cossacks
May 1919 - Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine, Soviet Russia
Sarah Taube lay frightened in the dimly lit cellar surrounded by her three precious children. Thank goodness they were asleep, she thought. Her daughter Chaya was well aware of what was happening, but the two younger children were still so very innocent and untouched by the cruel realities of war.
The sound of galloping horses, troops marching, the firing of rifles, and the piercing cries of men, women and children could be heard nearby.
"How could this be happening?" she asked herself.
Where was Dimitri who promised to be there for her and the children if she ever needed him? She was again isolated and alone, with only her wits to help her think calmly and clearly.
It seemed to her as if a curse had been placed upon nearly all of the males in her life.
It first began with her father who was killed during a pogrom, attempting to save the life of a woman he did not even know. Then there was her husband, stuck in a faraway land unable to rescue her in her time of need. Losing her sweet, innocent young son Avram so tragically still overpowered her with sorrow. And the thought of not knowing whether her eldest son Yankel was alive or dead overwhelmed her with grief. So why shouldn't she think a curse had been placed on those males so closely connected to her? Why indeed.
She was determined to be strong for her children's sake, though there were times when she felt the strain of it was too much for her to bear. But somehow she would always find the strength to carry on, regardless of all the obstacles she had to face.
ISBN: 978 1546966166
Publisher: Newbridge Press
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