Historical Fiction Eastern

The three tales in this audiobook are adapted from stories told by the peasants in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They are drawn from some books I found in shops when I visited the former USSR in 1988 as part of a citizen diplomacy group. I was intrigued by these folktales, since my paternal grandmother lived for some time in Odessa in the Ukraine. Also, I found these stories share a common theme - the poor peasant is able to succeed despite obstacles against an unfair ruler.

One woman’s decision. The fate of an entire family...Berlin, 1933. Erich, a Jew, and Hilde, a Christian, are a young couple, the parents of Yvonne, and owners of a small book publishing firm. With Hitler’s rise to power and the persecution of Jews, their lives are destroyed in an instant. The Nazis burn their books and, fearing for their lives, the family is forced to escape to Holland. The many hardships, however, tear the family apart when Hilde chooses to return to Germany together with Yvonne, leaving Erich, who immigrates to Palestine. Will he ever see his family again?

Step back in time to Easter 1935 at Glosser Bros. Department Store in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The display windows bloom with brightly colored decorations, and the smell of roasting peanuts fills the air. Each child gets a free baby chick for the holiday, and a rabbit comes with the purchase of each boys' suit. When eight-year-old Owen Talisman gets his free (yet priceless) Easter pets, life with his special new bunny takes a surprising twist that changes everything.

For fans of The Red Tent. She is from a poor Jewish settlement in a powerful Greco-Roman world. When Othniel bar-Ismael, a textile merchant from Jerusalem, arrives in her village, he is determined to take her for his wife. But the reality of living as a fine lady is not as grand as she thought it would be. When she meets the man of her dreams, an acquaintance of her husband's, her life is forever changed. Caught with her lover, she is dragged and kicked to the Temple Court. In the end, she must make sense of the second chance she has been granted.

La Pascua Triste, volumen que cierra esta descomunal trilogía, lleva hasta su final los caracteres y destinos de sus inolvidables personajes, resolviendo de forma definitiva los conflictos entrecruzados a que da lugar, en los años de República, la cercanía contradictoria de dos tiempos históricos obligados a una imposible convivencia.

Wapping, London: March 1799. A sunken lugger in the Pool of London at last reveals its shocking secret. River Surveyor Tom Pascoe of the Marine Police finds the bodies of two men entombed in the crew's cabin. Suspicion falls on a third member of the crew seen fleeing the scene. He had a known motive for murder. Against the background of a nation at war with Napoleon, Tom Pascoe finds his own life under threat as he digs deeper into the case.

In the dark and slimy streets of Wapping a prostitute is beaten half to death, a not uncommon fate in late 18th century London. So begins this gripping tale set in 1798 in the Port of London. A cruel villain holds sway over the underworld. His name is Boylin. His face is scarred by lime and his back by the two hundred lashes he received following a naval court martial. He holds Captain Tom Pascoe responsible for his suffering.

مقتطفات من كتاب علي الدوعاجي (1909.1949) "سهرت منه اللّيالي" : المصباح المظلم / في شاطئ حمام الأنف/ نزهة رائقة/ سهرت منه اللّيالي Nouvelles choisies du livre phare de l’auteur et nouvelliste tunisien Ali Douagi (1909-1949) Sahertou menhou al layali qui font voyager le lecteur dans la Tunisie des années 30-40.

Hold onto your magic hats for another spellbinding adventure! All aboard for Rome! Maxat sets sail for the city of history, song, gods and goddesses, art...and delicious ice cream. There are a thousand sights to see...but the one sight Maxat could do without seeing is the figure staring back at him from a very old mirror. After a fierce and shocking fight, it becomes clear that a perilous piece of history is repeating itself here and now, threatening to tear apart a lifelong friendship. Usually the rescuer, Maxat now needs to be rescued.

After the Great War (WWI), the rich and famous ladies of society were drawn into helping the poor, the destitute, and of course the children abandoned on the proud city streets to fend for themselves or in workhouses or, even worse, in gangs of thieves!