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The Shadow Wolf Chronicles #2
A REQUIEM FOR HANIA
One May Be Lost, That Others May be Found...
...Let the Music Touch Your Heart.
A Novel of the Warsaw Ghetto. A Novel of Today, Urgent and Necessary. Inspired by a true story.
From the darkest shadows of the past...To the brightest light of
the soul.
In 1942 a young girl learns to survive in the Warsaw Ghetto, when survival itself is a miracle.
In 1968 a young Composer falls in a forbidden love, while State Security watches and waits.
And in 2006 a young woman discovers secrets at her Grandmother's death that lead her on a journey of identity and self-discovery.
Inspired by a true story of friendship and love over three generations.
In 1942, Hania Stern, a young Jewish girl in Warsaw and her family are caught up in the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto. Hania survives when so many others do not survive, escaping when others do not escape. But escape is not release. Hers is the story of a soul lost, and a soul found.
In 1968 Pawel Weisz, an avant-garde composer and teacher in Warsaw, knows little of his own past; what he does know he denies. At a time of great protest, anti-Semitism and attempted change in a Communist state at a crossroads, Pawel falls in a forbidden love with a radical young Jewish violinist. But the repressive State and the times in which the two men find one another prevent any real possibility of a meaningful relationship. Theirs is a love too late discovered, leading to loss, to great pain, to exile; all the while Polish State Security secretly watches and waits.
And in 2006, Agnieska Janiec, an actor in Warsaw seeking an understanding of herself through her art, discovers at the death of her Grandmother, Hannah Kielar, secrets that push her into a journey of self-discovery: about her Grandmother, about Warsaw in the Ghetto years, about where she comes from and who she is. About those lost, and those found.
A Requiem For Hania is a story of identity, of loss, of rediscovery. It is a story about friendship, about music that illuminates our common humanity, about the pain of the past and the potential for the present and for the future to heal. It is a finally a story of where we have all come from and just perhaps where we are going.
...Let the Music Touch Your Heart.
A Novel of the Warsaw Ghetto. A Novel of Today, Urgent and Necessary. Inspired by a true story.
From the darkest shadows of the past...To the brightest light of
the soul.
In 1942 a young girl learns to survive in the Warsaw Ghetto, when survival itself is a miracle.
In 1968 a young Composer falls in a forbidden love, while State Security watches and waits.
And in 2006 a young woman discovers secrets at her Grandmother's death that lead her on a journey of identity and self-discovery.
Inspired by a true story of friendship and love over three generations.
In 1942, Hania Stern, a young Jewish girl in Warsaw and her family are caught up in the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto. Hania survives when so many others do not survive, escaping when others do not escape. But escape is not release. Hers is the story of a soul lost, and a soul found.
In 1968 Pawel Weisz, an avant-garde composer and teacher in Warsaw, knows little of his own past; what he does know he denies. At a time of great protest, anti-Semitism and attempted change in a Communist state at a crossroads, Pawel falls in a forbidden love with a radical young Jewish violinist. But the repressive State and the times in which the two men find one another prevent any real possibility of a meaningful relationship. Theirs is a love too late discovered, leading to loss, to great pain, to exile; all the while Polish State Security secretly watches and waits.
And in 2006, Agnieska Janiec, an actor in Warsaw seeking an understanding of herself through her art, discovers at the death of her Grandmother, Hannah Kielar, secrets that push her into a journey of self-discovery: about her Grandmother, about Warsaw in the Ghetto years, about where she comes from and who she is. About those lost, and those found.
A Requiem For Hania is a story of identity, of loss, of rediscovery. It is a story about friendship, about music that illuminates our common humanity, about the pain of the past and the potential for the present and for the future to heal. It is a finally a story of where we have all come from and just perhaps where we are going.
514 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2022
About the author
Greg Dinner
6 books3 followersGreg Dinner grew up in Colorado, studied in New York, Paris and London before moving to Los Angeles to work in film. In 1984 he settled in London, where he was a film executive, produced screenwriter in film and television and lecturer in film and ethics at several film schools throughout the world. ‘A Murmuration of Starlings’ and ‘Narcissus in Utero’, published by Ogham and Dabar Books on Amazon, are the first two noir/mystery novels of the ‘Shadow Wolf’ noir series, originally developed for a television series of the same name.
In a departure from the Shadow Wolf series, his third novel, ‘A Requiem for Hania’ inspired by a true story of the Warsaw Ghetto and set in Warsaw over three generations from 1938-2008, was published in hardback on January 18, 2022 through the Ogham & Dabar Books imprint, and will be published in paperback on April 19, 2022 with added book group discussion questions.
Greg Dinner now lives in the West of Ireland with his wife of forty years, a blue eyed collie and several half mad chickens.
In a departure from the Shadow Wolf series, his third novel, ‘A Requiem for Hania’ inspired by a true story of the Warsaw Ghetto and set in Warsaw over three generations from 1938-2008, was published in hardback on January 18, 2022 through the Ogham & Dabar Books imprint, and will be published in paperback on April 19, 2022 with added book group discussion questions.
Greg Dinner now lives in the West of Ireland with his wife of forty years, a blue eyed collie and several half mad chickens.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 4, 2023
4.6 stars. Exquisitely written, complex and epic in scope. This novel requires patience with its dense and descriptive narrative and deep character development. A sweeping journey that cannot be rushed.
Told in almost three separate stories where you become so invested in the first story and it switches gears so abruptly to another story. You know you are going to revisit the narrative again but you feel a bit disoriented in this design and you then learn and grow with the next character. Have faith, the story weaves lovingly back. I kind of enjoyed this over the use of alternating timelines.
I picked this up on a whim at the Denver Public Library. The author replied to my email about why it has no Goodreads reviews and how it is not easy to find. Such a gracious reply. I am a huge fan now. I am so glad I discovered this remarkable artistry and commitment to a story. You can feel how much time and effort went into this book. This reminds that my love of perusing the shelves and trying something new can lead to a hidden gem. In defense of my love of local bookstores and libraries. The vast unknown awaits.
“I think I am still young enough to be lucky and lucky enough to be still young.” (p341)
“…these keystone moments that define a life, dictate it, that make us chose to take one road rather than another, unexpectedly. Unintentionally. Chance. Chaos. Possibility. The artist’s journey? Yes. But a human journey and a human experience.” (p419)
“A life is not always chronological.” (p420)
Told in almost three separate stories where you become so invested in the first story and it switches gears so abruptly to another story. You know you are going to revisit the narrative again but you feel a bit disoriented in this design and you then learn and grow with the next character. Have faith, the story weaves lovingly back. I kind of enjoyed this over the use of alternating timelines.
I picked this up on a whim at the Denver Public Library. The author replied to my email about why it has no Goodreads reviews and how it is not easy to find. Such a gracious reply. I am a huge fan now. I am so glad I discovered this remarkable artistry and commitment to a story. You can feel how much time and effort went into this book. This reminds that my love of perusing the shelves and trying something new can lead to a hidden gem. In defense of my love of local bookstores and libraries. The vast unknown awaits.
“I think I am still young enough to be lucky and lucky enough to be still young.” (p341)
“…these keystone moments that define a life, dictate it, that make us chose to take one road rather than another, unexpectedly. Unintentionally. Chance. Chaos. Possibility. The artist’s journey? Yes. But a human journey and a human experience.” (p419)
“A life is not always chronological.” (p420)
March 24, 2026
Just finished A Requiem for Hania by Greg Dinner, a truly unique intergenerational story, playing through multiple timelines and characters. Connections and personal histories reveal themselves along the way, with new discoveries and mysteries solved as you proceed through the book. In 2006 we are with a young woman as she experiences the death of her beloved grandmother. In 1942 we are in the Warsaw Ghetto with a young woman fighting to stay alive as her family is decimated, in 1968 we are in a politically unstable place in encounters with Polish state security. In reading, the pieces of the puzzle are revealed and fitted together in into a rich family history of love, loss, life and death. LIfe is difficult in so many ways, yet there are moments of beauty and clarity that make the struggles worthwhile. This was such a good book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews